Fugue
by Elihu
Summary: The Titans fight, endure, and take a foreigner into the tower. // Ch.19: "But I'm a VAMPIRE!"
1. A Sign from Above

Prelude: _Doverie Nikto_

—

It was beautiful really. Some exotic quality made the metallic surface of the pole shimmer in the evening sunlight and reflect a gorgeous array of colors. The way it connected with the larger body almost seemed like a form of abstract art. Never before had a simple stop sign seemed so mystical — everyone at the crime scene certainly thought so. Everyone that is, except the robot impaled on it.

But the explosion a few moments later took care of him before he could complain or ruin the moment.

A foot and a half away, a wide-eyed, masked teenager sat dressed in a tight red and green getup with a black cape stretched across his back. The look of shock on his face was probably due to the fact that the end of the stop sign was formerly a meager five inches from his face.

Or that the sign had stopped the robot from completing a crippling blow with a mailbox to his head.

Or that the falling path of the sign led up six stories to the top of a building across the street.

For a moment, both the Titans and the rampaging robots seemed to fail to even realize that they were still in the heat of battle. A flying lamppost encased in a black aura smashed the head of another robot and quickly reminded everyone of the pressing matter at hand.

"Does anyone remember the simple fact that we are still in a battle!" an ornery, floating, blue-robed girl muttered loudly. The five teenagers suddenly sprung back into action and continued their struggle, completely oblivious to two pairs of eyes watching their movements several stories above.

—

"Whew... Used to be psycho robots actually _needed_ a reason to run rampaging through the city!" a large-built half-robot wearily commented to various others around him. "Stupid things weren't even trying to take any money or anything. They were just blowing crap up!"

"Maybe they were really bored… Hey Cyborg, do robots ever get the urge to go kill some time by exploding things?" asked a small, conspicuously green boy with a mischievous grin.

"Only when they run out of animals to run over on the road," came the retort.

The green boy gulped.

"The criminally insane never need a rational reason to lash out," replied the female cloaked in blue. "It could have been anything from greed to some perverse lust for destruction."

The masked boy of red and green interjected. "True Raven, but why would unmarked, coincidentally-untraceable robots strike at a seemingly random part of the city with _no_ clear goal in sight?"

"Perhaps we interrupted their mission before it even began, Robin," proposed an unusually orange young girl as she flew in to join the small group, "In which case, we would have been victorious in our undertaking, would we not?"

"Would think so," replied Robin with a slow nod. "We should still keep our eyes open for anything suspicious. Something tells me this is far from an insolated incident…"

During the discussion, each of the team members had been candidly glancing at the building tops along where the stop sign originated. Nobody had said anything about it up to the moment. They had all hoped it had been aimed at the robot and not the leader under it, but no one really felt comfortable discussing such a bizarre and random event.

"Glorious! Then our occupation in the vicinity is complete, is it not?" asked the floating orange redhead ecstatically.

Robin stirred from his inconspicuous gaze and lightly chuckled. "Sure, Starfire, 'our work here is done.' I got some unofficial 'samples' of the robots that we can use for examination. I'm sure the police department wouldn't mind letting us borrow them…"

The team quickly turned to scramble into flight, vehicle, or sprint, but Raven faltered; she lifted her gaze once more towards the rooftops in the direction of the miraculous street sign. She saw nothing unusual: an emergency ladder, a couple of trash bags, and a bulky ventilation shaft; everything was completely harmless. Something inside of her felt oddly amiss, but seeing no imminent cause for concern, she slowly turned and raced away to join the others in their path to a distant structure in the shape of a large capital T.

Seconds later, the outline of the ventilation shaft shifted and a pairs of eyes followed the group further and further away, until they were specks in the horizon.

—

"Dang it, Beast Boy! Move your freaking hairy gorilla leg out of my _face!_"

"Sure… right after you stop cheating at _every game we play!_"

"Hey! I can't help it if I naturally pwn you at any and everything you can think of!"

The green elf moved his foot and mumbled at retort under his breath.

"And don't think I didn't just HEAR you…" came the next insult. Their simultaneous bickering drowned the rest out.

"…And that is the _true_ way to create a pan-dimensional vortex," the orange alien girl stated with satisfaction as she walked with Robin into the kitchen of the Titan Tower. Robin smirked casually as he sat at the counter in the Main Room, several yards away from the squabbling duo. His companion Starfire had just finished passionately explaining the correct manner to sustain the ability to transverse light-years in a matter of nanoseconds. He mentally swore never to let her watch anything on the Sci-Fi Channel.

A look of earnest curiosity suddenly came to the face of the red-haired alien. "Robin," she began, "from where do you suppose the sign of stop that rescued you originated?"

He looked off at the feuding Titans yards away and shifted in his seat. "I honestly don't know, Star. But we can't assume that the sign was meant to save me. Whoever threw it could have had no real idea of how deep it was going to go. Their intent may have been more sinister than we suppose..." His brow furrowed. He still hadn't answered any of the questions that had arisen since the incident.

Robin looked up and saw that his concentration had worried the alien. "Don't worry, Star. It's probably no cause for concern. We should be more concerned about the scrap metal we tore apart, anyway."

As he led her away, he mentally added that his search would have to continue later that night on the Titan computers. Much later.

—

Inhale…

Exhale…

On the roof of the tower, the pale Raven sat cross-legged in complete silence. Her lips moved slightly softly, but no sound came forth. The scene around her was almost as peaceful as the setting of her concentration. Deep within her mind, she stood on a calm, serene lake on the tip of her toes, rhythmically inhaling and exhaling to the beat of her own heart. She stared into the expansive black void of her own psyche.

Inhale…

Exhale…

Many minutes passed in subtle harmony when, despite the gentle winds swirling around her body, she recognized a barely perceptible warmth across her face inconsistent with the rest of her body. Slowly, sapphire light poured into the blank slate of her mind.

Heavy exhale…

Startled, she opened her actual eyes and saw the most curious sight of the day: a navy blue rose floating a scant four inches from her face. Oddly, it was made completely out of some sort of fire; azure flames seemed to begin at the stem, flow through the flower, and flicker off every petal. She sat transfixed to her spot for several moments before impulsively reaching out for the rose.

Her pale fingers went clear through the flower and it whisked away with a passing breeze. She abruptly came to, stood up, and instinctively looked around the rooftop.

But she found nothing.

He had already left.

—

It smelled like a hobo had thrown up on the floor and then attempted to mop it up with whiskey and tar. Incidentally, as I turned down at the alleyway and started down the narrow passage, I saw a homeless man regurgitating his last meal onto the pavement.

_Klassnyi._

Nevertheless, I walked on, ignoring the man and his former lunch. At sunset, I finally arrived at the bridge that overlooked the dirty street below. This was the stark conclusion to my journey. No more aimless walking. No more weary searching. It ended here.

I walked up to the edge of the bridge and looked down at the street about six meters below. Turning again towards the road I was on, I looked dead forward as I slowly began to lean backwards. The wind pulled at my scarf and extended it to its full length. My hair whipped about in all of its brown fury. And I fell.

As I plummeted towards the road, all the memories of my life flashed before my eyes. It was short.

I shot out my left hand and latched onto a cable with my nunchaka. My body swung around and flew towards the inner wall of the overpass. As my feet connected, I shot forward and barreled out into a roll across the street. I finished standing on one foot and stretching my weapon so that all three sections of the nunchaka aligned straight across my back. I stood for a minute in that pose, not moving a muscle as my heartbeat slowly lowered and regained normality.

"_Okei_," I mumbled, "I'm sure the bridge is quite impressed."

It ended here. No more aimless walking for today, and certainly no more searching. I was at my resting place. I was home.

I looked out at the entire skyline of the city. The lights were wondrous and thrilling… mesmerizing and almost… intoxicating. They all stood out proudly, like they had something to say to world, and yet… they blended in unison to paint the nighttime sky. Thousands of cars and people bustled about below it and never looked up to observe the same beauty I saw. They didn't get the details, no one ever did.

I sighed, looked down at the small bag at my side, and pulled out a shiny, clear ball: a cat's eye. Closing my eyes, I lightly concentrated on the sphere in my palm, then tossed the marble at a stop sign a good eleven meters away.

The stop sign exploded brilliantly.

"_Doverie nikto_."

—

"Ha HA! That leaves the score at Elf Boy: 0, Cyborg the _Cyberking_: 6 billion!" exclaimed the satisfied robot.

"No! You just… well I was…" began the flustered Beast Boy. Unfortunately, he was cut mid-mumble by the blare of the beloved Titan siren.

!

"Argh! Son of a motherless pig—"

!

"Titans! Trouble," shouted Robin as he checked the monitors and barreled downstairs with Starfire at his heels.

"…Blasted robots…" he muttered.

…

—

People ran amok. Already, several vehicles had been overturned and various others had been crushed and thrown aside. The gang of chrome, geometrically-designed robots was on a rampage again. And they were all apparently pissed off at cars.

The lead robot, which seemed to be quite fond of the U.S. Postal Service, had torn off a door from one of the slow-moving mail carrier vehicles and was in the process of batting aside civilians when his sensors detected a specific object of interest: a little boy sat huddled several feet away, numerous tears running down his face. A silent voice within flashed a series of computational commands and drove him to darted in his direction. Pulling the broken door far back, he began a swing at the weeping boy's lowered head.

The robot never finished his swing; his arms were too busy being lassoed together by a well-timed grappling shot. He turned to the right to face the new threat… and received a metal boot to the face.

"Come on, scrap heaps. I say we even up the teams," Robin said as he whipped out his bo staff and sent the team into action. "Titans, go!"

A green T-Rex charged into two unsuspecting androids; they were confetti in a matter of minutes. Cyborg shot at robot after robot with his arm cannon as they slowly tried to advance on him. "Like fish in a barrel," he snickered aloud.

Pair after pair of machines met their doom as Raven encased them in ebony and obliterated them with a twitch of her fingers. Bolts of green swatted many bots aside as Starfire attempted with futility to reason with the brainless metal heads. "Please, cease your criminal activity and perhaps we can reach an agreement."

A swift blow to the head sent Starfire flying into a dumpster. "Oh," she cried out as she sat up and pulled a banana peel off her face. Clenching her fists, she stood up quickly and lowered her eyebrows. "I am afraid my offer of mercy has ended. You will receive justice for your unkindness!" The green bolts of fury from her eyes did the rest of the talking from that moment.

In a matter of twenty minutes, the battle was over. No robot was left standing; not a single threat was posed in the street. The Teen Titans looked around expectantly. They hadn't even broken a proper sweat.

"Heh, what gives?" asked Beast Boy to no one in particular. "Isn't there a part somewhere in there where something goes really bad and one of us has to like… risk their life to save everybody else's life and then we're all, 'Awesome, dude!' and then we eat pizza?"

"Yeah… that seemed too easy. Almost like it was setup by someone," Robin answered. "Everybody keep on the alert; we may not be done yet."

And so they walked around the entire area, listening for suspicious noises, searching for suspicious sights, and feeling all the more creepy every second that nothing happened. The minutes silently passed as the team searched high and low for anything that could indicate a threat. Their efforts were fruitless.

"Titans. Report." Robin stated when they all met back together at the scene of the struggle, standing uncomfortably at the opening of a dirty alley.

"…"

"I found nothing out of the ordinary," ventured Starfire. "Everything was as it would normally be."

"Yeah. The weirdest thing I saw was some dude with a green mohawk."

Robin opened his mouth to begin his reply, but he was violently interrupted by a small complication: a dumpster six feet behind the team suddenly detonated. Titans and trash went flying everywhere as flames flailed at anything within twenty feet of their fiery grasp and singed nearby trees.

As suddenly as it screamed, the blackened street became very quiet, nothing stirring.

Finally, groans arose from the ashes as the team regained their composure.

"Is anybody hurt?"

"Argh... No, we seem to be okay... We just…"

The voice trailed off as a giant television screen on the side of a large corporate building began flickering spastically. Black and white noise covered the 25-foot screen for a few minutes before it finally settled on a black screen with white letters. The message was brief, but its intent was as clear as the day it had interrupted:

**Good job, Titans. Congratulations on your little exercise.**  
**However, you are advised to work on your reflexes:**  
**next time, the explosion will be right in your face.**

**Consider this a sign from A.B.O.V.E.**

—

I threw three marbles in the air and they exploded into different colors. The little kids clapped. The older kids stood in the back and whispered among themselves. More marbles danced in the air. More "oohs" and "aahs" came forth. The final display included various marbles, a ball of confetti, and – as a special surprise – a banana. As the confetti floated down and the banana splattered everywhere, the kids shrieked with delight and looked back for more, but I was no longer there, having made my quiet retreat into the rest of my day.

I stood on the railing of the emergency stairs high above the kids in the alleyway and stared as they wandered in their separate directions.

My God, they were fat.

The way the children walked around, you'd think they'd never done a day of work in their lives. I could easily imagine the smug look on their faces as they walked home to eat whatever it was they demanded of their parents and spent the rest of the day captivated by the latest toy of the moment.

I stood straight up on the railing, my wrapped feet holding delicately onto the metal pole.

In one swift motion, I tied my hair back into a ponytail and dived face first off the railing. The wind swept by and my face felt icy cold for a moment. I caught a random pole with my nunchaka and swung upright as my face came only inches from the concrete.

I blinked.

…And realized that I'd never noticed how much whiter the road was in this part of town. Tucking my weapon in my waistline, I sprinted down through the alley. I ran for hours. Or maybe just a couple minutes. Or maybe I only ran a single city block.

I don't know. I didn't care. There was no hurry.

There was nothing waiting for me anywhere in the city.

—

The screen on the Titan's central computer hadn't changed for almost an hour. Two files were open: one was a window displaying the fruitless end of the scan of a robotic part, and the other was a simple, solid black browser window with a symbol at the top of the page of a flying mammal with outstretched wings. Inside were the words "A.B.O.V.E. (No Results Found)."

The glow of the screen outlined Robin's unmoving figure. Hours searching and he had found nothing. Thoughts raced across his mind and failed to make the connections for which he was searching. His mental hunt was abruptly interrupted by soft words.

"Excuse me, Robin… am I intruding?"

"No, Star… I was just… investigating. I can't seem to locate any data from the samples of the robots."

"How? Is there no way to identify the unusual alloy of which the robotic assailants were composed of?" she asked curiously.

"No. Actually, it's the opposite. Their design is so overly simple and the construct so common, that it's nearly impossible to pinpoint the manufacturing to just one source."

Starfire paused for a moment, staring at the mangled robotic arm that was under the Titan scanners. "Why would anyone go through the trouble of attacking an entire city and settle for such easily destroyable toys?"

"Why anyone would want to capture our attention badly enough to do it in the first place?" Robin answered.

Silence.

"Perhaps, Robin," she slowly began as she placed a hand on the shoulder of her teammate, "these matters can only be resolved with time and toil."

He slowly nodded in agreement and continued to stare blankly at the computer screen.

The alien's mouth suddenly widened. "Come, let us go and partake in the late evening activities of the Main Room."

As he casually glanced at the hand on his shoulder, the Boy Wonder barely allowed the corner of a lip to turn slightly up. "Maybe I can spare a minute…"

"Glorious!" she shouted, as she gripped Robin's arm, nearly tearing it out of its socket, and flew off. She continued to float and converse down the hallway until the distance drowned her voice out.

Inside the thickly armored computer room, everything was motionless: papers lay where they were last set, cables were snaked this way and that around various cabinets of files. And inside a broken robotic arm, a blue light flickered on.

—

Starfire burst through the set of double doors and into a flying ball of brown laundry.

The voice of an outraged Cyborg pierced the stunned moment. "DANG IT, STAR! How're we supposed to play a fair game and keep score with you frolicking around with our sports equipment?"

She delicately peeled away disgusting gunk from her face for the second time that day and ventured, "Remind me, friends, what is the joyous delight derived from flinging the ball of the stank at each other?"

"Duh, Starfire!" chimed in Beast Boy, tossing his own weapon of waste onto a kitchen counter. "It stinks! And it's a ball! And… It's STANKBALL!"

"I see…" Starfire glanced at Raven reading beside a window in the far corner of the room. "Raven would you like to jo—"

"No."

"Aw c'mon, Raven," pleaded Cyborg. "You promised."

"… … … No, I didn't."

"Well, will you do it anyway?"

"Maybe."

"Really?"

"No."

Before either beast or bot could further protest, Raven stood up and announced, "I honestly don't know how anyone can stand the smell of that compost heap. Besides," she frowned, "…I cringe at the thought of what could make Beast Boy's jockstrap that lovely shade of brownish green."

As her eyes widened in terror, Starfire scrambled from the hill of filthy laundry and bowled over Robin. Raven quietly slipped past them and exited the room.

All eyes were on the jockstrap.

Beast Boy smiled. "She's just jealous of my mad Stankball skillz!"

A black-outlined ball of moldy clothes smacked him in the mouth and sent him flying into a distant couch.

"That's another point for me," grinned Cyborg.

—

_The harbor finally came into view._

"_There it is!" I shouted, betraying hidden excitement. The older boy behind me faintly grinned and gripped my hand._

_It ended here. It began there._

"_This is what freedom looks like," I exclaimed. "This is what freedom tastes like!"_

_He nodded in agreement and looked around. Little separated us now from the Valley and the rest of our lives. But the little was just enough._

"_Green. Card. Green card! Do you have a passport? C'mon people, do us all a favor, and have your papers ready when ya get up here!" Turning back to the immigrants before him, the immigration officer at the front desk continued the standard inquiries. "Do you have any fruits or vegetables you would like to declare before we start…" As he finished with a batch of Italians, a discrete pair of children snuck past him under cover of other adults._

"_What is next?" I glanced around nervously. "Are we yet in?"_

_As if to answer my question, a banner flew proudly over us. "Welcome to America," it read.  
_

_Our sign from above. _

_Finally, we stood on American soil and beheld the world around us. People and small stands littered the small seaside business strip. The fresh smell of the ocean swirled around me as I ran out to the nearby food carts and street musicians and crowds. _

_It felt too good to be true. _

_And, it was. _

_Glancing behind me, I saw something odd._

_I ran towards him._

"_Wait. What's going on—" I shouted._

_It ended there._

I bolted up in cold sweat.

Nothing stirred in the midnight air.

My face fell between my knees and I shuddered.


	2. Sleight of Hand

"Come now, I take your silence as an insult!"

Nothing but shudders and gasps came from the audience.

"Considering the terms of your precarious position, I would think this audience would be more inviting… but to each his own!" With a sadistic smile and a wave, Mumbo disappeared from his position on the countertop in a flurry of confetti and reappeared with an enormous drill in front of the vault. "Open wide, dearie, this will only hurt for a business cycle or two!" Sparks danced as the drill was forced into the vault door.

"My, my, my… What thick doors you have!"

A blue sonic cannon shot the drill from Mumbo's hands at the same moment that a steel-rimmed boot smashed into his torso and sent him flying aside.

"The better to keep you locked up in, my dear," Robin announced as the remaining Titans rushed in through the doors behind him. He smiled shrewdly and taunted, "Give up now, Mumbo, and you may just get limited access to a deck of cards in jail."

"Aaargh!" the crazed criminal barked as he jumped back up and gathered himself. A sudden smile came over his face and he spread his arms in a full arc around himself in drama. "How nice of you to join me, Titans. I'm glad you made here safely. Hahahaha…"

Halfway through his taunt, the team was already upon him. Robin swung his bo staff at the villain's goofy face full force. With a crooked smile, the magician bent his upper torso a full ninety-degrees backward and, incredibly, gave a kick with an unbelievably large boot that sent Robin crashing into a distant pillar.

Mumbo was off-balance exactly as planned. A large green ram charged at the vulnerable legs holding up the leaning body with enough power to stop a pickup truck. The blue-skinned burglar belted out a demented cackle, curled his feet up to his floating body, and thrust his feet with all of his might when the stunned ram found himself headbutting empty air.

Still looking at the airborne ram, Mumbo pulled a large mirror and deflected a sonic shot into a black encased sofa shooting in his direction.

"Now, now, Titans! Why go straight down to business? Let's pass the pipe around and give each other a hand first!"

Mumbo vividly waved the flimsy wand around in the air and suddenly struck the ground.

Nothing.

Starfire paused on the brink of throwing two rather large starbolts. "Um… we are supposed to be frightened?"

"Terrified, my pretty!"

Something heavy rustled off to the corner. Robin, the nearest to the threat, spun around, poised with two birdarangs to counterattack.

Nothing.

"What kinda lameas—"

Simultaneously, several unbelievably large white gloves pounced on each of the Titans from nowhere.

"HAHaHAhaha. You really should considering investing in some handymen of your own, Titans!" cackled the magician.

"No, thanks," answered Cyborg as he shot off a glove from on top of him, "we're all pretty good with our own hands."

The brawl began.

Kangaroo feet struck two henchhands back several feet. The two shook their "heads" and jumped to converge on the changeling.

_Swooooooooooooooo—SLAM_

An incoming glove in the midst of a barrage of green starbolts quickly swept them both aside.

"Beast Boy," Starfire began, "you are unhar—"

_Thump._

A wave of gloves tackled her mid-air before she could finish.

"Ha HA!" Mumbo jested. "You can never—" Fortunately, a titanium arm smashed him from behind and stopped any unspeakably terrible pun he was about to release.

As the magician painfully crashed into a pillar, Cyborg thundered to the fallen Starfire and furiously tore away the crazy hands that held her down. A glove lunged at him from the side, but he caught it by the "neck" and used to smash away the others.

A green light welled up underneath the pile and an explosion threw hands everywhere. Cyborg barely had time to catch his balance before a hand started pulling at him from behind.

"Stupid things won't stop coming!"

A flood of emerald fury took care of the henchmen behind him… and it didn't stop there.

Meanwhile, two metal railings tore off the floor and flew at the dazed Mumbo. He eyed the black steel charging his way and grinned evilly.

"Stop playing with those silly little toys." He flicked his wrist and the rails sprung to life, razor sharp teeth appearing in random places.

Raven stared at the weapons that were formerly under her control.

"Damn. That can't be good."

—

"It's really unfortunate that you've got your hands tied, Titans. The tricks could have gone on all afternoon! Hahahahahaha…" The team scowled at the insane magician from under their bindings and over the restraints of gaggles of white gloves. "Well, the vault beckons me and I'm not one to disappoint such a fair lady!"

From under the grasp of a multitude of hands, the Titans watched as the villain turned and began strutting away.

Suddenly, Robin cracked a smile and calmly called out. "You know, Mumbo, you're right… it really is too bad."

The crook lightened his laughing slightly. "Hahaha… what…"

The entire team looked at their leader in the same confusion as the demented criminal. He didn't look back at them, but instead continued his arrogant smirk. "You were really close too, but I guess you're going to just throw that away…"

"I don't need any of your silly talk about crime and redemption and whatnot!" sneered Mumbo. "Just keep quiet and observe the master!"

A second of silence.

Slowly, Cyborg spread a grin across his own face. "Yeah Robin, it's almost a waste, really…"

"What's this nonsense?" the magician asked, still more annoyed than curious.

"Well, you're going to try to steal the booty and escape now and we were just warming up with you… It's too bad you're going to be taken out by the secret weapon…"

Starfire scanned the faces of her teammates: something was amiss…

"HAHAHA! That's rich! You've got nothing up your sleeves and I'm sure of it!"

"That's why it's such a shame… you can't even see it comi—"

"That's enough chatter," he interrupted and sealed Cyborg's mouth with a big blue string of handkerchiefs.

Cyborg looked down at the ridiculous gag. Raven caught a glimpse of amusement in his eyes. She smirked.

"Well, you really blew this one, Copperfield... I hope you liked your old jail cell…" Raven smugly muttered.

"Stop your yapping!" Mumbo shouted. Various hands gathered around the sarcastic superheroine.

"I really think you should be more respectful. That secret weapon's about to take you out!"

"SILENCE IN THE AUDIENCE!" he bellowed.

Raven managed to be heard one last time from behind the gathering gloves. "Wow, are the other loonies in the bin gonna laugh when they hear how your carcass got dished out by the secret weapon."

The magician aimed his wand at the belligerent empath.

Cyborg fell down laughing, gesturing behind his gag. The gloves securing him shifted a bit uncomfortably and tried without success to stop him from squirming around in hysterics.

Steam literally came out of Mumbo's ears.

"Robin!" Starfire cheerfully said. "The time of the absolute victory is at hand, is it not?"

"Sure is, Star."

"STOP IT—"

"Any second…"

"I SAID SILEN—"

"NOW!" Robin hollered and threw a look towards the entrance to the bank.

The capped villain whirled around and with unearthly screams, spasmodically thrust his wand in the direction of the door, unleashing a vicious flurry of flashing lights, furious sparks, and countless explosions. Two henchhands flew to the area and seized whatever they could find.

Nothing.

Mumbo dazedly turned back around to the Titans.

"…What're you trying to pull—"

_CLICK._

Every pair of eyes in the room again turned to the glass double doors at the entrance.

Afternoon sunlight poured in from the opening and a figure concealed by radiant light stood in the doorway. Behind squinted eyes, Mumbo searched the brilliant figure with undeclared apprehension.

A small, old woman appeared from behind the glare.

"Is everything okay in here? I heard some crashes..."

Mumbo stared at the elderly woman with a literal dropped jaw.

"That's the reinforcements?"

"Sorry dude," came a voice behind him, "that'd have to be me."

He reeled around and a hairy, green gorilla arm smashed his bulging eyes.

—

A feeble old man was dragged through the doors with both of his hands cuffed behind his back. He looked away to hide a welt on his forehead and mumbled something over and over. As he was led through the crowd, he his eyes rested on the Titans standing off to the side.

He suddenly threw himself forward to them.

"How did you loosen yourself from my Hands, Mutt?"

Beast Boy sneered. "Duh, Houdini… Hands can't scream for help. And you were a little bit busy at the time that my master plan went to work."

The geezer managed one look of surprise and hatred before he was thrust from the street into the back of the police van. Several officers followed behind with small piles of floppy, lifeless gloves and dumped them into a large steel box.

As the car spurred to life and took off with the felon in the back, the Titans faced one another and were forced to crack a smile.

"I can't believe we just bluffed Mumbo into screwin' up," Cyborg said behind a smile. "When the whole con started up, I had no idea how we were ever going to get away with it."

Robin simpered. "To tell the truth, neither did I. It wasn't until about halfway through that I even saw that Beast Boy had gotten loose."

"It was nothing. I was just workin in my silent op mode," the changeling said with a dramatic glance around him. "It was hunt or be hunted. And I totally hunted his sorry butt."

"I agree," Starfire beamed. "Beast Boy's angry talents certainly took possession of Mumbo!"

"…"

Raven cleared her throat. "Yeah… ok… Beast Boy owned the magical moron and all that…" Raven said. "Let's go now."

"Hold your hood, little lady," Cyborg interjected, "I say we mark this victory with a feast fit for champions."

The team stared at his one raised eyebrow.

"Alright, alright… Let's go for pizza," Robin said giving in.

"Woah, woah! I'm the Most Valuable Beast of the day! Don't I get a say in anything?"

Silence.

Beast Boy sheepishly looked away. "Whatever, lets get pizza…" He trailed off.

He looked back suddenly and quickly added, "I'm sure everyone will enjoy the old-fashioned tofu and extra cheese toppings we'll be ordering when we get there…"

Cyborg grimaced.

"Oh, Hell NO! We are not about to waste time and money on—"

"Dude! They're like practically related to me—"

"I don't care if you've freakin' dated them, it's just some—"

The voices trailed off as the two walked away in heated debate.

"Brats," Raven muttered.

The remaining three took their time in following Beast Boy and Cyborg down the street as the sun slowly began to dip into the horizon.

—

They walked in like any average customer would. One normally doesn't see a group of five oddly-dressed teenaged superheroes enter random pizza places; at least, not without some sort of hysteria following close behind. But there they were.

Of course, people started softly murmuring when they walked in. A small bevy of girls in the corner giggled and admired from afar. Several older citizens smiled and mumbled to each other nostalgically. A few males in the room stared out of the corner of their eyes, but none of them whistled; they knew better.

The five settled down in a booth a couple of tables away. Even then, they were easy to listen in on; they did little to hide their voices.

"I'm telling you, man, don't worry about it," Cyborg declared. "There's nothing we could do to find where those robots came from anyway: no clues were found at the scene or on the bots."

"Still, we should be investigating the possibilities. There's no telling what could be brewing next and we have no clue what the probable targets could even be!" Robin answered.

"Robin," Starfire began, "we _shall_ look into the matter thoroughly, but in the mean time, we should enjoy the relative peace we have."

"—besides, whining sure isn't going to help anything," Raven stated, looking out through the window of the pizza place.

The Titans looked at her; she didn't look back. Beast Boy broke out laughing, dripping soda water from his nose.

They were an interesting group. The rest of the customers—who never quite stopped their discussions about them the time they were there—certainly agreed. I didn't know much about them really and, frankly, I didn't care much either, but they were entertaining enough to examine in the plain restaurant.

The bestial one kept cracking jokes the entire time. In them, the rest of the team seemed to find some mild satisfaction, except the goth, who just looked out the window or at the others. The orange alien ordered a large bottle of mustard.

What the hell?

The whole time, their conversation continued, meandering from topic to topic and, curiously enough, no one ever said quite what I expected them to.

After some time, I glanced away and out the window to see it had grown quite dark outside.

"Ma'am?"

I turned in my booth and saw a bright red vest staring angrily back at me.

"Miss, we've told you before," said the head a foot above the vest, "if you're not going to order anything than we're going to have to ask you to leave to make room for other patrons."

I got out of the booth and stared at him in the eyes. He was a full head taller than I was, but I could still feel him bend back to my challenge.

A smile.

"Certainly."

I made to go on my way, but paused midstep. Turning, I handed him a quarter.

"Here's a tip for your patience."

He quizzically frowned as the coin shimmered colorfully in his palm.

I walked passed the Titans, through the restaurant, and out the establishment. As I crossed the parking lot, I stopped and turned back. At that moment, a small flash and a girlish shriek came from the pizza parlor.

He wasn't hurt: I knew how to give it just enough juice to feel like a bad carpet burn.

_Doverie nikto._

—

_He looked like any average, middle-aged man: average height, average build, no scars, no distinguishing characteristics. Nothing to make anyone look twice in his direction. But he was looking at me._

"_Hello, sweetie. I've missed you ever so much." The 'R' in "ever" was thick and rolled, full of an unspoken smugness. His hand never left the shoulder of the young boy in front of him._ "_We were worried about you two."_

_People walked between us and around us, but our eyes were deadlocked; the passing world was meaningless. Gaze still unbroken, he took a couple of steps forward._

"_Now be good little children and follow orders…"_

_Never leaving the boy in front of him, he came closer until I could clearly see the stubble across his chin. A curt smile revealed a row of clean, sharp teeth._

_I curled my fingers around the nunchaka in my waistline._

"_Ya tebe ne doveryayoo," I spat through clenched teeth._

"_I don't care if you don't trust me, you _will_ follow my orders if you value your life and that of your little friend," his said while closing his grip on the young man's shoulder; the expression on his face revealed that the man was squeezing much harder than it appeared. "Poidyom so mnoy."_

_I shook my head angerly. "We're not going anywhere."_

"_Oh, but several of your peers would beg to differ."_

_What? I glanced around the harbor and saw what he was smiling about: the hot dog stand to my left, the park bench near the railing ahead, the fountain in the center of the plaza. They were posted._

"_Now walk, suka," he practically growled in my ear, "wouldn't want those filthy Americans to get you now, would you?"_

—

I was finally getting near home. Well, as much as the ground underneath a bridge can be considered a "home." The street where I walked was dark and almost entirely devoid of life; people in the neighborhood seemed to know better than to spend any more time outside after dark than was necessary.

Sighing, I thought over the events of the day. It had been fairly calm, and largely uneventful; in fact, nothing interesting had even happened—

Suddenly, I was yanked aside.

It took me awhile to realize that somebody was actually clutching me from behind and holding a hand over my mouth. "Don't struggle, Gorgeous, and everything'll go smoother…"

He forcefully whipped me around, threw me up against an alley wall, and pressed a switchblade up to my throat. He appeared to be in his mid-to-late twenties, with medium stature and a face not even a mother could love. Other than rough, features, I really couldn't make much else out of his appearance.

"What's a pretty thang like you doing walkin' around this late for?" he slurred. "You know, there are lotsa bad people 'round here…"

Was he _serious_?

"So why don't you do what I say, and we both might leave here a little happier…"

In spite of my peril, I couldn't help but crack a smile at the line. He was serious… "Anything you say, sir," I replied innocently.

"Really?" he remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll obey. Trust me."

"Good girl." He nodded, put down the blade, and reached for my scarf with his right hand.

I caught his hand with my left, now with a stone look on my face. Twisting his wrist to the left, I unfurled my nunchaka with free right hand. I struck the first link on the base of his neck and the rest lashed behind his head, leaving the third link in perfect position to smash his nose. While still gripping his wrist, I gave him a sharp kick in the ribs then plowed through his chest with a kick that sent him flying into the opposite wall.

I took one step towards his groaning body.

"_Doverie nikto." _

_Trust nobody._

I walked the rest of the way home uneventfully.


	3. Creative Crimefighting

The morning sunlight met a blue cloak billowing in the wind.

Raven sat cross-legged in the dead center of the roof of the tower. With her eyes closed, she could feel the motion of everything around her. There was a leaf ten feet to her right. A nest of birds sat in the southwestern corner. A spider crawled in front of her.

—

The early rays peered over the rooftops and stroked my fluttering scarf.

I sat comfortably on the edge of the roof a corporate building. Eyes open, I could see the world slowly awakening around me. There was a bus quietly rolling along. Workers sauntered into the entrance of the Sony offices below me. A man left a grocery store.

—

She felt the wind beneath her and delved into her own mind. The cadence of her robe flapping in the wind slowly brought her mind into quiet meditation. Raven looked up and saw the peaceful black of the sky in her mind. She stood upon the quiet waters and observed the individual Ravens running around freely, doing whatever their innate desires droved them to do.

She embraced her surroundings. She was exactly where she sat on Earth, and yet nowhere at all.

—

I felt the rush of the cold current and continued to let my mind wander. The flutters of my gray scarf with the breeze swept me into silent nostalgia. I stared up at the melting sky, smeared with reds and oranges and blues. The city's dynamic sea was a perfect soundtrack as I observed the lives of the busy people, running around, bound by their longing to own everything possible.

I despised my surroundings. I was living in the country, yet I was never here at all.

—

Raven stood up.

She was done.

As Raven closed the door to the stairway leading inside, a figure smiled and leaped off the side of the tower.

—

She walked in on a typical scene at the tower. Beast Boy and Cyborg fiercely debated the value of protein in breakfast and fought to ruin each other's breakfast plans. Starfire flew from one hallway to another in cheerful and hurried fashion. And Robin… Robin was, of course, nowhere to be found.

She silently walked past the two clashing Titans.

"Raven!"

She winced.

"Raven, come help me out here! Tell Nuts n' Bolts over here how fast red meat's gonna rust his metal butt!"

"But first, explain to Dopey how lack of meat is leaving his Seven Dwarf behind skinnier than a twig!"

Raven kept walking forward hoping they won't notice if she kept walking.

"Is not!"

"Psh! You better believe it is!"

"Well at least I'm not…"

Raven sighed as she finished her clean escape… and was blindsided by Starfire.

SMACK.

Books and maps went flying everywhere as both Titans went sprawling.

After a beat, Starfire picked herself up dazedly and apologized. "Forgive me, Raven. I was hastily flying around the area and neglected to pay attention to the action in front of me."

She hurriedly scrambled to snatch each of the books from all across the foyer.

Beast Boy, apparently having abandoned the skirmish with Cyborg, picked up a book that lay at his feet. "Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 26: Prague through San Francisco?" he read with mild confusion.

"Yes, well…"

"The Wealth of Nations?" read Cyborg dumbfounded as he picked up another book.

"Um…"

"The Republic?"

"…"

"The Coming War: _Modern Relations between the Superpowers_?"

"… … … "

"Uh, Star… You been doin' some back-to-school shopping?"

"Well…" Starfire slowly said, "I was cleaning out a floor of the tower this morning and I came upon a large pile of very old manuscripts. They interested me, and I decided to read them."

Beast Boy looked over the titles with ridiculous horror in his eyes. "Which one are you going to read first?"

"Read first? I have already finished these; I was merely going back for my second load."

All three Titans stared bewilderedly.

"You read the _entire_ pile in one morning?"

"Yes, well…" she said quietly while blushing, "I did get somewhat distracted from the cleaning… and they were just lying there…"

"Starfire," Raven ventured, "exactly how fast do Tamaranians read?"

"I–I never was part of the faster readers of my class… I–I do not really know," she stammered sheepishly.

"Whoa."

"Can say that again..."

"Does that 'freak' you into the 'out'?" She fidgeted nervously. "Is this amount of reading… unnatural?"

"Well," Raven replied, minorly amused by Starfire's anxiety, "humans can't normally read that quickly, and some—" She threw a quick glance at Beast Boy. "—can't read at all."

"Whoa, whoa!" Beast Boy protested. "I can too read! The TV Guide happens to be thrilling literature! …and the only way to catch my shows… and full of colorful pictures… and—"

"My point exactly." Raven interrupted as she turned in place and walked through the nearest wall in a swirl of shadows.

Silence.

"Yeah, well—" Beast Boy turned around... to discover that Starfire and Cyborg, too, had turned and left him standing.

Silence.

"Lousy nerds—"

A black book smacked him in the nose.

—

The Titan central computer displayed the name and addresses of several major oil refineries. Each one of them was fine, respectable, and possessed unblemished criminal records as part of a respective corporation. And each one processed highly specialized oil for highly specialized machines.

Robin scanned over each of them. There was a link somewhere; he just had to find it.

_Adlai & Smith Refineries._

_Wayne Refineries._

_Standard Oil._

He had nothing.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were shopping early for my birthday present."

He didn't respond to Cyborg's comment.

"Anything new?"

Robin slowly began. "The scans picked up a smear containing a mixture of C10 through C19 hydrocarbons, approximately 64 aliphatic, 2 olefinic, and 3 aromatic hydrocarbons."

"… … Diesel fuel?"

"A strain of it, though this one has radically high levels of sulfur content, at least 0.65."

"Whoa, why the hell would there be such a high — and illegal — sulfur level in the oil? And why would it be in the arm? There'd be no need since they ran on electric power…"

Silence.

"I haven't determined that yet… but right now, it's the only lead we have on this case. I did some research and found a list of the only refineries that have the capacity to manufacture the fuel within the city."

"And…?"

"… There are twelve of them."

"... Right…"

There was a long pause as both considered the possibility of traveling to each refinery and investigating the entire complex for clues, leads, and evidence. They simultaneously shuddered in the darkness of the room.

Each one smiled slightly as they recognized the other's thoughts.

"Well," Cyborg started, "I guess we'll be having some major 'hand-on' research tonight… I'll get started on the schematics of the places and highlight any suspicious places for unusual robot construction." He palmed the keypad by the door and it slid open with a muffled hiss.

"And Robin—" The Boy Wonder looked back at him. "—don't forget to get some rest before we go, keep working and you'll just be selling off your strength."

The door slid back on Robin's grimacing face.

He turned again and put his fingers back on the keys, but he didn't start typing. His mind was blank as he mindlessly passed his fingers over the keys. He tried to step back and see the problem as a whole; there was something he just wasn't seeing from where he was. Robin opened up a secure connection to a national database. He stared at the empty search box for minutes.

—

I arrived at another sidewalk, but I didn't keep going. I casually sat down on a small wooden bench as my fingers unconsciously traced over the letters stitched on the scarf. I turned to my left and examined the view of the park; far away, I saw something that didn't seem quite right. I glanced harder at the two figures far off and stared at the people for a couple of minutes.

—

Gradually, he started typing. Connections slowly formed in his mind and typed faster.

The results started pouring in; he was getting closer.

—

Slowly, I stood up. I took several curious steps, then walked faster.

The voices started clearing up; I was getting closer.

—

Amid a landslide of computer files, Robin's eyes picked up one. His finger flew to the screen.

"You."

—

In between threats, the mugger heard my footsteps right behind him. His head spun around.

"You?"

—

Robin examined the contents of the file. He read and allowed himself to smile slightly: the break he needed. He stood up and left. Maybe he _would_ get some rest.

—

I looked down at what the unconscious body. I inhaled and lightly laughed: the same schmuck from last night. I turned around and started leaving. Maybe I could go get some rest.

_Doverie nik_—

"Hey!"

Now what?

"Wait..."

I turned around and saw a little boy who looked like he was trying to bull rush me; it turned out he was just stumbling like a beaten drunkard.

"H-Hey," he started nervously when he regained his balance, "um, th-thanks for, um, helping me out 'n s-stuff back there, I, um…"

I stood there looking blankly at him. Okei… was he going to give me a medal or something…?

"I-I, uh, well, y-you were, um…"

Wow, this was getting annoying really quickly.

"H-He was taking my money and I-I—"

"Pardon," I interrupted with as much self-control as possible, fighting the urge to reach out and slap the kid, "but is there something else you need help with?"

It was his turn to stare blankly at me.

Wonderful. Of all the people to save, I rescued the stuttering catatonic brainchild.

I sighed. I turned around and started to walk away yet again, when the boy decided to come back to life.

"O-Oh! I'm sorry- I just-…" He exhaled nosily. "My name is Job."

_Okei_, did he want me to congratulate him? I nodded instead and said, "Right." Turning, I realized that I really had to get out of there before he started on his life's story.

"We-Well, don't you have a name?" he asked following me.

_Chyort_, this boy couldn't take a hint! Maybe he wouldn't say anything if I kept—

"Do you?"

Too late. "Mika," I sighed, "It's Mika."

He repeated my name and looked far off. "Mika… is that Jewi—"

"_Tvoyu mat_! I'm sorry kid, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could… get to the purpose?"

"Kid? I'll have you know that I'm fifteen!"

"Congratulations," I retorted, "and I'm sixteen, but I do not go about being blindly assaulted by armed strangers and struggling through conversing with unknown girls, do I?"

For the oddest reason, the boy cracked a smile. Damn English. I did _insult_ him, didn't I?

"Thanks for the help, Mika."

Well, if he wasn't going to just disappear, then maybe I could satisfy his incessant heart for a painful second with some chatter and then leave him happy.

"What are you doing walking alone in a park anyway?" I asked, hoping there was a simple answer. "Shouldn't you be in school or something?"

"Duh, no! It's Saturday."

I did an impression of a brick wall: was that supposed to mean something…?

Fortunately, he sensed my confusion. "There's no school on Saturdays…" he slowly said as if trying to refresh my memory.

"_Za chem_?" I asked mystified. Stopping, I attempted to start the inquiry over. "Why would you attend school six days, then arbitrarily skip a day at—"

"—Five days," he interrupted.

"What?" I asked with annoyance.

"We go to school five days."

I gawked, mouth agape. "How do you finish your units of study with such little time? I guess the administration doesn't give you an annual week of rest in that case…"

"Um," Job replied with slight bemusement, "we get off two months during the summer."

Well, it was official. I knew then what made Americans so stupid.

He stopped looking off suddenly, and peered at me with an overly curious look in his eye.

"Do you go to school somewhere around here?"

Silence.

"Do you live around here?"

More silence.

"Are you freakin' from anywhere NEAR here?" He said, apparently eyeing my clothes for the first time.

"No," I answered. Not waiting to explain anymore to a boy off the street, I ran past him, dove through some bushes, and sprinted away until the scene was a dot in the distance. Last time I go to a public park…

Several hours after that painful incident, I wandered along the sidewalk of a small road. Cars periodically passed by, and I looked intently at the figures inside. They all seemed so motionless and still; I wondered if some citywide tragedy had happened when I slept.

Regardless, the city seemed to carry on like it usually did, and I noticed people continually bustling about, with a single-minded goal of getting to an office building or a department store or a restaurant.

I roamed about, twirling three marbles between the fingers of my right hand. I suddenly saw a sight so beautiful, it made me stop dead in my tracks: a three-story emergency stairway. In an alleyway. With clotheslines connecting the buildings. And random flagpoles jutting everywhere. And not a soul around. Then I paused and honestly wondered: am I addicted to heights?

—

"Oh, Beast Boy, you sexy thang!"

"Won't you come save me, so I can give you a _personal_ reward?"

"No need to fight over me ladies, there's plenty to go around," Beast Boy replied coolly.

Only the green figure flexing his muscles in the mirror answered back.

"Beast Boy, you are the MAN—er… the BEAST!"

The green biceps grew in his mind.

Beast Boy took a step nearer to the mirror and his eyes glazed over. He saw visions of big celebrations. Millions of people shouting. Banners waving. And fangirls. Everywhere.

He snatched a weight from the floor of his room and curled it up. He tossed it up and caught it with the spider monkey tail. He lobbed it, caught it with an anteater tongue, and flung it into a pillow as hard as he could.

—

I leaned slightly forward and fell straight down. I caught glimpses of flashbacks to days on the jungle gym. Two adults smiling. Children laughing. And metal poles. Everywhere.

I seized a flagpole jutting out from the wall and spun off. I flew outwards and caught onto a clothesline with the metal links of my nunchaka. I twisted off, falling straight down, and landed on the concrete. Hard.

—

"Hmmmm," Beast Boy mused while inspecting the small dent in the pillow, "I should probably work on that."

"No worry," he exclaimed, "the crowd won't be disappointed!"

—

"Ah…" I groaned, softly rolling my right ankle. "Could have been better."

"No matter," I declared to no one in particular, suddenly remembering, "It's Scavenger Day."

—

"No, really. Ladies, you should control yourselves, we wouldn't want someone to get hurt now!"

Only the mirror smiled back at him.

A cough behind him.

His mouth froze.

"Mr. Sexy Thang," Raven droned from her place at his door, "Robin says to get ready for a recon mission later tonight."

She turned around and the door slid shut behind her.

Silence.

Beast Boy frowned sheepishly. "She's just jeal—"

He suddenly stopped, afraid of seeing the weight he had thrown come flying at his head covered in black.

—

Darkness had abruptly covered the city almost as quickly as light had flooded it hours earlier. Shadows had elongated and completely overtaken the woods in the outskirts of the city and the air had grown crisp and cool. The moon lay hidden underneath layers of clouds, and little could be seen in the darkness. Miles from the nearest skyscraper, a fence-enclosed compound sat undisturbed. Its only neighbor it was the woods that marked the limits of the city and the creatures that dwelled in it. One of those creatures was definitely not a green peregrine falcon.

The high beams of the T-Car broke the darkness in two as it came to a stop a few meters from the eastern gate under the cover of the drooping vines of a willow tree. The car shut off' Cyborg emerged from the driver's side and Raven from the passenger's as the R-Cycle and Starfire flew in.

They met up a few feet from the fence and Cyborg finally spoke.

"Okay, Robin," he mockingly sighed, "tell us how you figured it out."

"Why, gladly my good man, " he smiled. "The oil the scanners found in the arm of the robot was highly elevated in levels of sulfur. It seems that the robots were specially engineered to be defeated within a time limit. If we hadn't beat them within approximately twenty minutes, the oil would have been burned all the way into the core of the battery and it would have exploded on us."

A look of worry came across Starfire's face. "Would it have been larger than the explosion that occurred regardless?" she asked.

"Much larger," Robin answered. "And simultaneously in each robot."

Each of the other Titans nervously glanced away.

Robin continued. "It turns out that no company in the country makes diesel fuel even remotely as self-destructive and ineffective, so I realized that it must have been custom made by some blackmarket organization."

"ABOVE?" Beast Boy ventured.

"Possibly…" Robin faltered slightly and then continued, "But it made me realize that though the fuel was blackmarket material, the robots themselves weren't. They—"

"—were legally bought." Cyborg finished, as he turned to face the compound before the Titans.

The other members shifted their eyes to the distant, white-lettered sign on the building.

"General Dynamics Robotic Systems Incorporated," Raven read.

"W-Whoa, GDRS?" Cyborg stuttered, "_The_ GDRS that sells robots to the U.S. Department of Defense?"

"The very one."

There was a slight pause. "Two weeks ago," Robin resumed, snapping everyone's attention back to the huddle, "the Robotic Technology Systems division of General Dynamics opened its doors to the commercial sale of elementary models and basic prototypes to non-competitive companies that signed partnership agreements. So the only question is, who's been buying masses numbers of cheap, standard robots from General Dynamics and where are they being delivered to?"

"Well, we won't find anything standing out here," Raven commented decisively. "Let's go."

The team turned, about to begin infiltrating the compound, when Starfire cut in. "Um, I do not mean to be the destroyer of the party," she said slowly, "and I know that at times our methods are not offically sanctioned by the law but… is this not… against the law?"

Cyborg laughed and looked at Robin, who frowned slightly and slowly replied, "Don't think of it as breaking the law, Star, think of it as… creative crimefighting."

"I shall try," Starfire reluctantly replied, "but we should at least try to avoid the 'breaking' of this 'creativity'…"

She reached for the locked gate.

Robin did a doubletake. "WAIT! Starfi—"

—

It really wasn't a good catch; I found only rusted and beat up materials and nothing I could possibly use. I did, however, find many things to use for target practice: hitting a toaster flying through the air is slightly harder than a stationary street signs.

I was just about to quit for the night and retire to my bridge, when something attracted my attention: in the corner of my eye, I saw a large flash of green light. What the heck? _Choozhoi…_

I tucked a fistful of ball bearings into my bag and dashed out of the dump and into the woods as my eyes fixated where I thought the light had come from. Dead branches seemed to come flailing out at me from nowhere, and I awkwardly dodged while I ran to avoid them. Eventually, the trees thinned out and I came upon an opening. There, only ten meters away, stood the team. The beloved Titans. The heralded crimefighters. The _Maguchaya Kuchka_… Actually, only four of the them stood: the orange alien named Starfire was on the floor, holding her head like she'd had too much to drink. The rest of the team, the leader Robin especially, reached for her and helped her stand up again.

"Star, are you okay?" he shouted in a voice barely audible to me. "You didn't let me explain the security of the place: although there are few human guards, the automated defense systems are extremely strong."

"I believe I understand now," she replied as smoke finished rising from her clothes. She stood up and quickly charged her fists with green lightning. "Let us reattempt the entry again, this time…" she winced, "…avoiding the knocking on the front door."

With that, she grabbed Robin by the shoulders and took off over the fence. Beast Boy morphed into a green pterodactyl and painfully carried Cyborg, following Starfire into the compound. Raven was the last to leave; she simply raised her hands and levitated, encased in a black shell.

I steadily approached the area where they had been only a few seconds ago. Suddenly, I felt overwhelming curiosity to know what drew them to such a remote place, so late at night… perhaps a better highlight could be added to my day. With renewed determination and childish curiosity, I darted towards the fence surrounding the facility.

As the metal links came closer and closer, I began sprinting faster and faster. I reached top speed about three yards from the fence. At the last moment, I turned left, up the tree that sat a distance from the fence. Reaching the end of the branch, I jumped off and sailed through the air, just clearing the gate. I landed in a roll and looked back. Nasty things, those fences, you never know when one of them might be electrified.


	4. Debut in the Mountains

For a team of superheroes, they were extremely noisy. It didn't take long to find their trail, and I easily followed behind them. Cyborg walked ahead, lighting the way with a shoulder-mounted flashlight; Robin, Raven, Beast Boy walked in the middle, investigating their surroundings the whole time; and Starfire brought up the rear with her green-flashing fists.

I was careful to keep my distance; I didn't want to have to explain why _I_ was breaking into whatever kind of factory this was and following them.

Eventually, we came to the end of the hallway; it split into a path to the left and right that encircled the top of a gigantic storage room like a catwalk and allowed you to see into it through a thick, glass wall. The Titans continued up to the crossroad window overlooking the warehouse, then stopped as Robin turned to address them.

"Alright Titans," he said looking each person in the eye before continuing. "This is a mission of pure reconnaissance, we should try to avoid any unnecessary complications with security. Besides…" He looked around. "We should probably keep this operation out of the official Titan files."

Beast Boy opened his mouth to crack a joke, but Robin cut him off.

"We're going to need someone to search the warehouse downstairs for unusual shipments, hidden storage rooms, anything that doesn't seem to belong. You'll be needing some portable light so Starfire," he motioned toward her, "you go with Beast Boy."

Starfire nodded in confirmation.

"If anything goes wrong, me and Raven will be—"

"Raven and I."

Robin dumbly stared at Starfire. "What?"

"The grammatically correct way to refer to another person and oneself is—"

"Raven and I," he said with only slight annoyance, "will be searching the business archives above you in the corporate office." He turned to Cyborg. "Did you download the map of the building?"

Cyborg tapped his titanium skull. "Got it all up here."

"Good," Robin replied, "you'll be going to the department of research. I want you to review all of the robot schematics you come across and search for the blueprints of the ones we fought. We need to find out exactly how involved this company was in the attacks and whether the robots were originally built with the timebomb mechanism."

Robin again turned to the entire group and nodded. "We'll keep each other posted on the situation as it develops. Lets hope everything goes good, and remember…"

Starfire open her mouth to comment, but Robin cut her off with his eyes.

"… keep it quiet."

She closed her mouth without protest.

Cyborg pointed to the right and Starfire and Beast Boy followed him towards a hallway that appeared to lead downstairs. Robin jogged to the left after Raven, who had already taken off towards the office on the other side of the circular room. Once they cleared, I came out of the shadows and looked both ways.

Which one would probably entertain me the most?

Giggles and groans from the right gave me my decision: the green bean and the carrot were the winners.

I trailed behind on foot as they walked through various corridors until they arrived at a door where Cyborg stopped and entered. The other two nodded towards him and continued. I decided to follow them with a little bit more precaution.

We traveled down a flight of stairs until we reached what felt like the ground floor. They went through the door at the bottom and I made sure to count a few seconds before continuing after them. As I gently eased the door open, I saw that they had pressed forward without a pause. Apparently, they heard nothing from me.

We carried on our trek until suddenly, a loose screw fell from the pipe beneath me. The screw seemed to drop through the air and land with only the tiniest tap on the floor.

But it wasn't tiny enough...

They both spun around.

Starfire stood with both hands open and poised with large green bolts.

I stood still with my hands clenched on long rusted poles.

Moments of silence passed as they tried to find the noise and its source. Starfire peered into the darkened hallway, searching for a threat. I calmly attempted to reduce my heartbeat and contain my breathing. I pressed myself into the darkness around me, hoping they wouldn't notice me.

A few more seconds of silence passed.

Beast Boy morphed back from a velociraptor and let out a sigh of relief. "It was probably nothing, c'mon let's go."

After checking one more time, Starfire turned back around and continued her quest, never once shifting her attention from behind her.

Whoa, that was close. If I had been on the ground, they would have seen me for sure.

Securing my nunchaka in my waistline with one hand, I slowly hung down from the pipe I was clinging to on the ceiling of the hallway and continued along the maze of ducts and pipelines that stretched through the ceiling of the entire corridor.

By the time I reached the two Titans again, they had arrived at some sort of gallery room. There were various models displayed on stands along both walls of a long hall, and Starfire was looking at something that looked like a large green tractor.

"The MDARS-E system," she read slowly from a gold plate on the glass display, "is the world's most advanced autonomous vehicle. It integrates a robust, multi-threaded Obstacle Avoidance System, a precision GPS-based Navigation System capable of accuracies better then one inch, and an Intrusion Detection System consisting of radar and image based target acquisition and tracking, all connected in a Controller Area Network (CAN) Local Area Bus."

She blinked in confusion. "Beast Boy, why is the robot connected into a local public transportation vehicle?"

"Got me," he replied. "I got lost after 'M'."

As they continued looking at the long rows of models, I quietly slipped behind a large display and patiently waited for them to progress.

"Star, is it me, or do these things look nothing like the ones we fought two days ago?"

She finished looking at the models and then answered, "I agree, Beast Boy, these automated machines are not humanoid in the least way… Perhaps the model of our assailants lies further ahead, in the warehouse?"

Without any more delay, they took off for the storage room, flying as only superheroes can. Needless to say, I never wanted wings more than the moment they took off, Starfire in her alien flight and Beast Boy in the form of a falcon.

I managed to stay only slightly behind until we finally arrived at the enormous warehouse. Boxes almost literally flooded the area, mounted in piles close to the ceiling; they were separated into categories of some sort, leaving a labyrinth of a pathway in between them. Up above, the hallway where we first saw the warehouse was clearly visible, as was the office where Robin and Raven were working. That was all I could really see from Starfire's impromptu lantern: the shadows in the huge room seemed to swallow any sight from beyond ten meters or so.

"The HDROX-7," Beast Boy read, leaning a large crate towards him and reading a label on the top. "Order form 7E65P… Model number Q102… Mail to: District of Columbia…" Beast Boy suddenly let go of the box and it fell with a loud crash. "Nope…"

Various boxed laid in the same manner as the one he let go of, giving me the impression that maybe he had gone through a few before I caught up to them.

"Perhaps you should exercise more caution when handling such delicate materials..."

"Don't worry about it," he replied while cracking open the top of a crate. "If we wanna dig up some dirt on these creeps, then we can't be afraid to get our hands a little dirty." He smiled innocently, then ducked his head into another wooden box.

"I do not know, Beast Boy," Starfire weakly advised, "these products do not belong to us, and Robin told us to exercise extreme caution…"

I grinned. She was a cute one. I was about to assure myself that the comment indicated nothing about my own femininity, when something stole away my attention.

Something had stirred. Something in the shadows had suddenly jerked to life. I couldn't tell where, but I could have sworn that I saw a—

_CRASH_.

"Damn it!"

"Beast Boy, I do not see how sentencing it to condemnation will fix the robot inside."

"No, Star! It's just that_—ouch—_sometimes_—_oh, crap…"

_Bleen!_ You couldn't leave these two alone for a second, could you?—

_FLASH_.

Without a moment's notice, the world had exploded into a flurry of intense, searing, white light. I shielded my eyes with both hands, attempting to turn away from wherever the light was coming from but quickly realized that it was absolutely everywhere.

I was finally able to open my right eye after several unstable moments and squint through my adjusting pupil, just in time to spy a wall-mounted cannon swivel into Starfire's direction.

I reacted.

"Get down!"

—

Only slightly earlier, Cyborg stood at a laboratory table, with large, crisp, white sheets of paper unrolled before him. He intensely scanned through the blueprints, trying to find not only the designs for the robots they fought, but also any hidden clues that could appear in other models. Unfortunately, he had found nothing. The large metal palm smacked the tabletop one more time as he threw aside another useless blueprint and picked up a similar looking one.

"Nothing but a buncha small-scale industrials," he complained to himself. "There's not a single humanoid bot in this pile. No way any of them could possibly influence the design of a combat android… Just wastin' my time…"

His human eye darted around the room, searching faster than any computer ever could. It finally settled on the large screen lab computer on the other side of the room.

"Unless…" He calmly stood up and walked over the terminal, it softly hummed in its quiet hibernation setting. "Mom always did put the best cookies in the safest jar," he sang with a smile.

Cyborg produced a thin, silver cable from an opening in his wrist; he securely connected into a port on the computer and woke the sleeping giant. Access to the mainframe wasn't as hard, as he expected — he merely had to play around with a six dozen or so passwords for a half minute. Before he knew it, the archive of blueprints from the past, present, and future were literally at his fingertips.

He had barely opened the first file and wasn't even finished reading it, when the computer suddenly was caught in some sort of loop.

Cyborg flinched.

"The heck?"

He stared at the screen as he fought to regain active control of the computer.

His efforts were fruitless.

"Ok, now I'm pissed. Gay computer can't even follow a stupid order? Piece of crap…" he muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, the entire screen froze and then went black. A single word flashed across the screen in bright yellow letters: ACTIVATED.

"Oh, shi—"

_FLASH_.

—

The room was layered in black. Somewhere, beneath the veil of darkness, was a simple, organized office. An imposing wooden desk sat in the back, facing the door of the office with a sturdy leather chair nestled securely behind it. Two metal chairs sat in front of the desk as if they were being given the gravest orders. A plastic potted plant sat in a corner of the room. Certificates, diplomas, and awards graced the walls as pictures of smiling old fogies were wedged in the few spaces between. Three steel filing cabinets hid in the back corner of the room; they were narrowly spaced out and locked securely. A large window covered the left wall of the office and gave the imaginary CEO in the leather chair a view of the warehouse below.

Underneath the last cover of shade, a leather-bound brown ledger rested on the desk. It overlooked the entire office, and it saw everything in balance.

Then, the doorknob jiggled. Silence returned as it stopped. The entire was knob was just as quickly enveloped in a black darker than the room itself. It let out a tiny tremble, then a subtle _click_, and then returned to its natural color. The door suddenly swung open with Raven's hand still on the knob.

Robin walked past her and looked around. "Well, at least if the Titans wouldn't have worked out, you know you could've always been a cat burglar."

"I was."

He turned a curious eye towards her.

Raven stared back coldly. "Wow, I was joking?"

Robin returned his attention back to the world around him with a slight groan. He silently walked up to the small desk lamp and clicked it on. Furniture that hadn't seen light for hours was suddenly illuminated, exposed brightly to the pair of investigators.

On her way to the filing cabinet, Raven suddenly spotted Starfire and Beast Boy in the storage warehouse below.

Beast Boy was savagely tearing the lid off a wooden crate.

"So much for the delicacy of the operation," she muttered.

As she got to work on the small lock on the filing cabinet closest to the desk, Robin began carefully examining every detail of a thick, leather ledger. Numerous dates, deals, and debts filled the pages and reported the financial statistics of the company. His eyes scanned each one for anything out of the ordinary.

The dim light of the lamp accompanied the heroes in several silent minutes of study. Each one wrapped their attention in the task and delved into task of retrieving safety for the city.

Abruptly, Robin broke the silence.

"Only a couple large-scale non-federal deals were made in the last year," he stated. "And nearly all of them were for non-humanoid models."

"I'm not finding anything significant here either," Raven added.

He stood up.

"Maybe," Robin mused, " we're no looking in the right places… If I was doing business with a shady business partner, I wouldn't exactly keep the records with any of my clean ones."

He paused.

Both Titans simultaneously turned to cabinet hidden in the leftmost crevice of the office. A small, but obviously solid steel padlock reflected back rays from the desk lamp.

Robin turned to his partner and politely smiled. "Raven, would you do the honors?"

She apathetically rolled her eyes and grumbled; "I seriously doubt my powers were given to me to become a master safe cracker."

"Well, breaking and entering sure isn't in my job description, but sometimes flexibility is what being a superhero is all about."

Raven silently nodded her head as she made her way to the security device and grabbed it with her eyelids closed.

_Click_.

"Now let's see what skeletons are lounging around in the company closet."

Robin took a large stack of files and spread them out over the desk. He opened up the first one and quickly scanned it.

"Jackpot. Here are all of the bids, offers, and future plans of General Robotics…" He continued scanning. "Did you know the Department of Defense is spending $13 million on robotic maids?"

"You'd think they wouldn't have so much dirty laundry then."

"Guess the maids aren't programmed to clean up skeletons in the closet."

She picked up the topmost item on the stack and looked it over. It was a plain white envelope with a single word: Ted. She turned it over and looked for anything that resembled a mailing or even return address. There was nothing. Intrigued, she took the clean, white letter out from the already-torn envelope. Seeing no address on the letter, she read the only content of the letter:

_Sinclair,_

_You have the numbers._

_We settled a price._

_We expect delivery in less than five days._

_Don't disappoint._

_P.S. You should probably go help your friends, Titan._

Raven's head jerked back. Her mind went ablaze as she tried to figure out what was—

_FLASH_.

—

Downstairs, the cannonfire had barely missed singeing a couple of Starfire's hairs. I had scarcely tackled her to the ground before the blast had blown a hole where she had stood only moments before. I turned around and saw that Beast Boy had taken refuge behind a steel box like ours on the opposite side of the clearing between us. Smart boy.

"I do not mean to interrupt your act of heroism," Starfire meekly interjected, "but your torso is blocking the flow of blood to my limbs."

I immediately rolled off her and settled into a position where I could see around the crate. My eyes barely cleared the corner of the box when I saw the cannon shot in my direction. I spun back around, narrowly avoiding the second shot.

From behind the crate, I could faint her the cannon moving, and it sounded as if it was recalibrating some of its measurements.

Then it hit me: how do scanners usually detect life forms?

I forced a small onto my face and dug my hand in my sidebag. I took my hand out of my pocket and extended my fingers. Two cat's eyes rolled around in my palm.

"Excuse me, but what do you plan to do with such beautiful spheres?"

Ignoring her question, I tightened my grip around the marbles and focused.

Abruptly turning in Beast Boy's direction, I saw him catch sight of me and stare, perhaps expecting some sort of miracle.

So I gave it to him.

I tossed the marbles across the open space between us and watched them land roughly a meter away from Beast Boy's crate. His dumbfounded expression lasted only a brief moment as the blast knocked him back onto his butt and drew the fire of the cannon.

That was all I needed.

Without pausing, I dove to the right behind a mountain of boxes. The cannon, neutralizing the threat to it's right, jerked to it's left after me, but merely caught sight of my shadow. I stood up confidently and looked at my situation: the two behind me were pretty much stuck where they were and my little explosions weren't nearly enough to blow up the cannon. The only option left was to get up close and finish it directly.

But for that, I was definitely going to need another distraction...

I sprinted around the mountain, peeking into boxes and hoping to find something of use, but they all seemed to be robots and robotic parts… parts that, if I remembered correctly, were _not_ to be damaged in any way.

Finally, I kicked open a crate that had exactly what I was looking for. With both hands, I reached into the box and pulled a football-sized metallic head. I tried my hardest to ignore the possible importance of such a polished, heavy piece of equipment in a robot shipment as time's demands grew louder and louder in my head.

Facing opposite the mountain and the cannon on the other side of it, it tightened my arms and squared my jaw. Within a second, the deadweight was glowing with fluorescent colors and my fingers were warm. Squatting down like I was riding a horse, I held the head out in front of me, calculated the angle in my head, and hurled it with all my might behind me.

It soared over the mountain.

—

Upstairs, Robin and Raven watched the flying orb from outside the office as they rubbed their eyes in pain: the brightness had gone from candlelight to Vegas casino in a matter of short seconds and their eyes barely had time to adjust to it.

As they stumbled off to the nearest staircase, they saw the flashing ball land only a few yards away from a cannon mounted on the opposite wall. It barely made contact with the ground before it exploded into a fiery wave.

When Robin kicked in the door leading to the staircase, the cannon had already detected it and began shooting madly at the smoking remains.

—

I was already moving before the bomb even kissed the floor.

Pressed up against the wall that the cannon was mounted on, I shuffled as fast as I could without getting in its line of sight. As I neared it, I broke into a quick sprint and saw it notice me through the corner of its sensor. It rotated to pick off my leaping figure…

...and never made it.

I caught the swiveling barrel with a leaping sidekick that bent it in the other direction. It helplessly sputtered about, trying to compute what was causing such an egregious error in its systems. With a cruel smile, I reached out and placed a hand on it.

"Starfire!"

Robin burst onto the scene from the opposite side of the warehouse. He and Raven ran up to Starfire and Beast Boy and quickly looked around.

"Star," Robin asked cautiously, "what happened down here?"

Starfire opened her mouth to answer, then was cut off by the explosion of the cannon.

**BOOOOOOOOM! **

_Crackle… crackle… crackle…_

Robin stooped down and stared wild-eyed at the fire coming from the "broken" cannon. As I calmly walked towards them from behind a smaller mountain I had taken refuge behind, his eyes inadvertently locked in on me.

He stood up from his crouch, took a step closer, and glared questioningly at me. "What business do you have here?"

Funny, I could have asked him that exact same thing. I probably would have, too, if I hadn't been distracted at that moment by very loud noises.

**THUD. THUD. THUD.**

Something pounded on the Plexiglas above us.

I looked up and saw a panicked cyborg trying to communicate something to one of the Titans. His voice faintly carried through to our floor. "Wa—out fo—hind you—"

_Shto_? The just don't make cyborgs like they used to.

I looked back to Robin and saw the mask of shock he suddenly had at me.

No, wait... not me.

I suddenly realized what Cyborg said.

_Chyort_.

A robotic hand crashed into my shoulder and sent me flying towards a pile of boxes several meters away. As I fell, I barely managed to plant a hand below me and straighten my body to land. I hunched over and my feet shifted under my body behind my hand. Another graceful landing today that could have gone better…

I saw Robin pull a staff out from seemingly nowhere and shout out to the heavens.

"Titans, go!"

Turning slightly, I finally got a look at the _govnyuk_ that had actually bothered to swat me aside before advancing on the Titans. My eyes widened: he had certainly eaten his vegetables…

The mammoth had to be at least two and a half meters tall. He stood absolutely still, his arm still at the end of the motion that knocked me clear across the room. A single red light adorned his short, squatted "head" and his dull-orange armor-plated body somehow didn't seem to reflect the light that was shining brightly everywhere. Clear rubber coated his perfectly unmoving joints.

A hailstorm of green energy bolts captured his attention.

Starfire floated a few meters away from him. "Cease your attack automaton, we do not wish to do battle."

Apparently, he did.

His hand shot forward and began glowing. Without hesitating, Starfire unleashed bolt after bolt to the Robot's face. He responded with abrupt swats of his hand. Not a single one reached him as the red eye kept his focus the incoming assault.

Suddenly, Robin sprung up from the stream of bolts and kicked the head full force. The head spun around a clear one hundred and eighty degrees and the Robot staggered back, attempting to maintain his balance and a visual contact with the attack. Robin swung his bo staff and struck only one time before the Robot began deflecting the blows with his armor-plated forearms.

_Clank_.

The Robot blocked the swing to his head.

_Clank_.

A blow to the torso was prevented.

_Clank_.

His defense maneuvers were flawless.

A couple of yards away, and right in front of me, Raven began muttering something under her breath. The pace of her voice quickened and her pitched deepened further and further, until a wooden platform rose into the air and violently flew with a green lemur on top at Robin's unattended backside.

With a swift dodge of one of the Robot's flailing arms, Robin thrust himself up close and fixed a metal-rimmed boot on the Robot's face, propelling himself into a backflip that barely carried him over the incoming platform that rocketed by right under him.

The Robot spun around in time to catch the platform… but not the eight hundred pound green gorilla that came with it. Beast Boy pummeled the Robot with punch after punch. The Robot was thrown back, lurching as the blows knocked it senseless.

**SMASH!**

His body twisted to the left.

**SMASH!**

His never-blinking eye spun to the right.

Pausing, Beast Boy reached back to deliver the final crushing blow; he drove his fist forward with all of his might.

The Robot caught it moments before it bent in his head. He leaned in and seemed to study it for a moment, before throwing it away and thrusting two metallic fists into Beast Boy's open chest.

Needless to say, he landed even further back than I did.

I looked back to the Robot, and sure enough, he stood deathly still, his arms still in the last motion that had knocked Beast away with so much force. The pill of scrap metal was really starting to aggravate me.

I stood up, just as a blue beam shot past me and struck the Robot in the chest.

I turned behind to see Cyborg still aiming from the doorway.

"Pardon me, ma'am," he shouted with a distant wink.

Okei…

Robin and Starfire had already taken advantage of Cyborg's long-distance assault by continuing the fight with energy bolts and flying red razors.

I ran up to the fight and entered the fray without a second thought, nimbly avoiding the bolts and soaring blades.

Robin faltered. "Wait! What are you—?"

My nunchaka answered his question. I danced around the Robot's swings and latched onto his backside. I used the blunt end of the nunchaka to pop open a panel. It looked far more complicated than anything I'd ever tried to disable.

Easy enough to fix that.

I reached back to blow the fuse on the leviathan, but the Robot swiveled his head perfectly around and signaled a clear threat to tear my limbs right off. Springing off, I barely avoided the powerful swipes from his orange arms.

Once at a safe distance, I looked over at the Titans: Beast Boy and Cyborg had joined the group and they all were finishing a quick huddle; Robin signaled Raven, who had already started chanting behind closed eyes.

A metal pole exploded out from a wooden crate next to the Robot. He didn't have enough time to react before it snaked around his legs and swept him off balance. The Titans flew into the game, attacking all at once, from every angle and medium, and I sighed as I saw the battle draw to a close.

I sighed too soon.

The Robot burst from its bond with an indiscernible fury, and extended both of its arms outwards. Thick metallic cables shot out from the palms and roped around Starfire and Cyborg. He whirled the orange alien into Raven and used Cyborg as a mace to lash out at Robin. Raven and Starfire flew into the mountainside and Cyborg brought Robin with him as he rolled into another pile.

Beast Boy stood alone among fallen comrades. He glanced quickly at them and then turned to the cables that had already retracted into the palms of the Robot.

"He has toys?"

The cables flew out again and wrapped around his neck and torso. The Robot brought him in close and slowly squeezed tighter and tighter on his victim. As the oxygen quickly left his lungs, Beast Boy had a harder and harder time morphing into animals to resist the incredible grip. By the time he was face to face with the Robot, he couldn't even manage to pull at the cables. His resistance slowly weakened and weakened, more and more, until the point where he was almost losing consciousness. The Robot's eye zoomed in and examined the threat he was about to exterminate.

**Thud.**

His inhuman head spun perfectly around and saw me grappled onto his backside. His single red eye looked straight into mine and for an instant nothing moved. We looked dead into each other and, for a moment, I thought he could read my mind.

I smiled and waved.

The Robot immediately let go of Beast Boy and struggled to reach for me, but he couldn't stop me.

He knew that.

I knew that.

It ended here.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

With a scream, I thrust my hands into the opening in his back. Electricity filled the air and the lights flickered as energy coursed through my veins.

Images seized my mind. Images of completed missions and defeated enemies. Images of whimpering sentinels. Images of delicious energy. Images of overwhelming power. Images of the eye, the hand, the mind, and the secret.

One of his arms blew clear off in a ball of electrical fire.

The eye stared straight at me and I could have almost sworn I saw it pleading for mercy.

His head exploded before I could answer.

Then, drunk with fatigue, I blacked out.


	5. Back and Forth

"You realize this is asking for trouble, right?"

"God… No, no it's not."

Silence.

Mumblings. "We really need to stop just bringing in every lost puppy dog we find…"

"We are in a position to offer assistance, Raven, do you not think we should comply?"

"The city hospital can offer even better help than we could…"

"Could they?"

Silence.

"When was the last time they had extra power cells? Or cream for the wild effects Tamaranian puberty? Or a werewolf antibiotic? Or anti-nanoprobes? Or a vaccine for the wrath of the Devil incarnate?"

Silence.

"Okay Dude, turn on the freakin' camera already; we can't just leave her unsupervised in there."

"…any excuse to spy on people…"

_Click._

_Bsssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…_

_Click._

"There. That's the sick bay."

Silence.

"Okay... is that a leotard?"

"First of all, I think we have a slightly more pressing matter on our hand... Second, it covered her entire body and it felt too coarse when I carried her back to be any sort of spandex; it must be some sort of cotton or something."

Silence.

"...Just trying to make conversation..."

A few more seconds of lull followed.

"You know Robin, absolutely no abnormal readings have been present since she was hooked up to the machine."

"That seems really unlikely. I mean, that was a hell of a lot of juice: she should have suffered burns, or at least some muscular disorientation."

"Nope. Nada. Zilch."

Silence.

"Dude, what if she's like some crazy Supergirl or something?"

"Then you'll have to take your drool somewhere else because there is no way she's going to stay here."

"Hey! I don't see why she should stay any more than you do! Who knows what trouble this chick could bring? And trust me—" He winked. "—they always do."

Uncomfortable silence.

"I swear, we need to find you a girlf—"

"Look, let's just do this one simple favor in exchange for the help she gave us, ok? No deals. No contracts. No obligations. No trust…" He trailed off. "…yet."

They all stared at the screen in silence for, what seemed like, an eternity.

"She certainly seemed to me like an strong and trustworthy individual."

Silence.

"So did somebody else."

Blaring silence.

Louder.

LOUDER…

"Look, I'm not suggesting we build another freaking room, just offer basic medical necessities."

"Yeah, whatever… Look, let's just not let this get out of hand, ok?"

Silence.

"...We're vigilantes, not social workers."

Silence.

Though they all uncomfortably looked off in different directions, there was a general nod among the Titans.

—

I hadn't slept that well in ages. Smiling lightly, I felt a small ripple of adrenaline course through me.

I wonder whatever happened to those Titan characters…

Before even opening my eyes, I yawned loudly and extended my hands out… or at least I tried.

I couldn't move.

I tried to stand up.

Oh, God.

My eyes snapped open and took in the world around me.

Darkness. Everywhere. A curtain walled me in from the right, walls of blinking lights and buzzing instruments filled the space behind me and to the left of me. A large window was located far in front of me, but little, if any, came in to light up whatever else lay in that direction.

_A gentle humming sound._

Where was I?

I caught something stirring in the corner of my eye. My head whipped around to the right and searched for any kind of life to tell me what was going on.

_There was darkness everywhere._

I saw nothing in that direction.

Weak scratches to my left.

_Green lights danced above my head._

_My eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness of the room._

I moved the only part that could to face the direction of the sound.

The silence laughed at me.

_I angled my head to the table next to me. Good, he was still beside me._

_I looked down at the straps that held me tightly in place. Any tighter and they would have cut off the circulation to my body._

I suddenly began to get anxious. I squirmed about and, seeing the outline of the restraints for the first time, I attempted to curl my hand far enough off the bed to reach the strap across my chest.

_The leather straps were old, worn, but impossible to break from. I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. I tugged against the leather straps with my entire might._

They weren't very tight.

I loosened my right hand from the strap and undid the one on my left hand.

Suddenly, a flood of intense of light emerged from seemingly nowhere.

I shielded me face, and meekly peered from in between the cracks of my hand.

_A tall, muscled figure entered the room, basked in the light that spilled from the door behind him. A white lab coat surrounded him as he glided towards me while looking at a clipboard. _

_He smiled and spoke without even looking at me._

"Ummmm, hello?" Cyborg asked.

_I stared back from the medical table without responding._

_He repeated, "Vy dumali, chto vy mogli ubezhat?"_

I refused to say anything.

He looked around a bit nervously and asked one more time.

"_Did you think you could get away?" He laughed a little bit this time. _"_God, I don't know why they put up with you insolent brats…"_

_He took a step forward, still looking down at the clipboard and writing something down in the dark._

Cyborg uncomfortably took a step forward. He positioned himself in front of the window, allowing the scarce moonlight to outline his body and leaving me to stare at the silhouette of—

—_a lunatic. He walked up to the other bed and peered into the face of the boy laying unconscious in it. He clicked his tongue and spoke to me again._

"_My dolzhny tolko ubit vas teper."_

_Kill me now? They wouldn't… not after so long…_

_He began heading over to my bed. I could see his figure soundlessly moving in against the moonlight._

As he approached the side of the bed, he continued his speech.

"Look, we appreciate what you did for us earlier tonight. We just would like to know—"

"—_how you expected to live the rest of your life?"_

_I stared at him._

"_In hiding?"_

_No response._

"_HA!" He nodded his head in disbelief. "You're a bright girl, Mika. You know how much of a foolish dream that is. Especially in America!"_

_He leaned in closely. I see the stubble on his chin, smell faint staleness in his breath, and feel the intensity of his eyes as he gently spoke._

"_You forget, dear Mika, that you belong to us. You exist for us, and us alone." He smiled. "Pity, really. I told them we should have killed you when we had the chance."_

_His left hand appeared and reached towards my face._

I caught it in the air.

"Okay," Cyborg said, looking at his hand, "I guess you don't need any help getting up."

_I twisted it around and forced his face closer, until we were nose to nose._

"_But you forget something as well, Doctor."_

_His fingers in my palm writhed in sharp agony._

"_Doverie nikto."_

I jumped clear off the bed and flipped over his head, still holding onto his wrist. I landed and flung his body straight ahead towards the dark area past the window. He flew away and I heard a clatter as his body crashed into whatever shelf or cabinet lay in that direction.

I angrily tore off random little suction cups that had been wired until recently and had been monitoring me only moments before.

_Clearing myself of them, I jumped over to the bed next to me. "C'mon! Get up!" I furiously whispered to the unmoving figure._

I reached out and felt… absolutely nothing.

"_What?"_

_I pulled aside covers and pillows and found the bed devoid of all life. _

_Chyort! Where could he be? I didn't even know a way out of here, much less how to find him in this labyrinth._

Groans came from the corner as Cyborg moved aside the cases of gauze and slings that weighed him down. He stood up and cautiously made his way towards me with his hand on his sonic cannon.

"Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot here, I really think—"

"—_you need to consider your situation. You can't possibly hope to make it out alive." He arrived near me, but kept his distance. "Eto zakanchivaetsya zdes'. You'll just die."_

_I casually laughed as I reached into a box near the door and pulled out my nunchaka and svistul'ka. "Doctor, I think you forget that I am Mika. For me, it never ends."_

I forced my left fingers into the crack of the door behind me, and strained to open it.

I tried again with both hands and, gradually, it opened up to the left. I stained to prop it open, and slid my body through the threshold just as it closed shut with a swish.

—

Soft footsteps echoed down the hallway; a shadow glided gracefully on the floor and across the walls. Delicate taps paced as a light source came closer.

"…he who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to be destroyed by it…"

Starfire looked up in confusion. "But is not freedom what truly gives a master his own power? Why should his people feel the need to rebel if simply gives them what they clamor for?"

The shadows refused to answer her.

"Perhaps you could have benefited from a friend like Robin, Machiavelli—"

She stopped.

Peering back at the wall she had passed moments before, Starfire stared intensely and wondered if she had just seen it move.

"My imagination..."

Slowly turning back, the alien Titan continued walking towards her room.

—

I watched from behind a slightly opened door; I had barely had to time to dash into room before she passed by in the hall.

Wait, was I in the Titan Tower? I realized I must have been dragged in when I was unconscious or something...

Slowly, images of the battle I had fought earlier came into my head. My cheeks suddenly flushed as I realized how foolish I must have looked. A stupid, crazy drunk girl who dipped her hands into the circuitry of an enormous robot and passed out with a smile on her face as a storm of electricity surrounded her. Wonderful.

"Um, how's it going?"

_Tvoyu mat_.

I slowly turned to face a pair of beady black eyes staring right at me. My body jerked back and I hit my back against the partially opened door, trying to quickly assess the situation.

"I didn't mean to scare you." The green boy put his hand behind his head and smiled. "But _you_ kinda came into _my_ room."

_Okei_, I had to get out quickly. My hand felt along the wall for the opening in the doorway...

"Listen, you kinda saved our butts earlier and we really didn't get a chance to thank you properly."

I really hoped he wasn't going to spring a life's story on me...

"We're not really used to that happening often; you see, we're the protectors of this city. They call us the Teen Titans."

He was springing a life's story.

"The rest of the team calls me Beast Boy." He paused slightly. "Um, what's your name?"

I stood in the same spot that I stumbled into moments before. I really did not want to be there. In fact, any place in the world would have felt better. Fortunately, my fingers caught on something that made my heart start beating again.

Blinking awkwardly, I tried to meet his eyes.

"Mika."

I jumped backwards through the crack and left without looking back.

—

It took me nearly two minutes to arrive anywhere that wasn't surrounded on all sides by reinforced steel. After an insane maze of twisting and intersecting hallways that all looked the exact same, I emerged in an a large, wide room filled with normal furniture and various leisurely electronic equipment.

I walked in to low light and immediately saw no one. Three steps forward, I realized I was wrong: a faint rustle in the distance abruptly alerted me of a secondary presence in the room. I dove behind a kitchen counter and looked around the corner tentatively.

On the other side of the room, Raven stood up and closed the book she was reading. Her black eyebrows furrowed as she squinted to recognize the aura she thought she had felt enter the room.

I could fell her eyes burning into the counters around me as her gaze scrutinized the scene with curious intensity.

Never lightening her expression, she sat back down with her eyes casually glancing in my direction. I waited until I was sure she had returned her entire attention back to her thick novel, then I continued to head to towards the door crouching as low as humanly possible.

With the exit only four meters away, I slowly rose from the crouch.

Unfortunately, I took a kitchen appliance with me.

I barely saw the iron pan fall off the counter.

I witnessed my cover falling along with the pan. Time seemed to slow down as the clatter of the pan grew closer and closer. With all of my desperation, I flung my hand out behind me and prayed that I could at least deflect the falling bomb.

Five seconds later, the air was still serene. I opened my eyes and saw the handle of the pan laying firmly in my hand, all five fingers clasped around it.

I sighed in relief and stood up.

Sometimes fortune smiles on you—

The door I had come out of slide open and Robin came barreling out, lightly panting.

Sometimes it doesn't.

"Raven! Our visitor has gone missing. We think she's—"

He suddenly caught me running towards the main door. "No, wait! We're not trying to..."

I wasn't about to wait for his explanation; sprinting, I arrived at the door that I hoped led to freedom. I struggled to open it manually with both arms. Nothing was budging.

I whipped out my nunchaka and tried to use them for leverage.

No results.

Impatient, I stood back and hurriedly tried to come up with a way to open the door before either of the two behind me caught up to me.

Behind me, they tried to say something, but I was not in the mood to listen to instruction. My mind raced for a solution as I saw their shadows rapidly approaching me. Praying for irony to save me, I reached out for the most logical solution.

I palmed a pad next to the door and it opened.

Guess they don't really expect people to break out very much, do they?

Running through the doorway and down a short hallway, I arrived at an elevator. I was about rush in and go down when I realized how easy it would be for anyone to simply cut off the power and corner me in the elevator.

A red exit sign hung above a door near the elevator so I ran to it, hoping that it would be some way out.

And fortune smiled again.

I burst into the top of a staircase and gazed to the bottom. If I hadn't been under such pressure, I would have smiled: a clean drop. All the way to the bottom.

I jumped up to the railing and dove down headfirst.

There must have been at least ten stories to the bottom; I wasn't foolish enough to think that I could make it all the way to the bottom and not crack my vertebrae like a bag of peanuts. So as I approached the fifth or sixth floor, I latched onto a hand rail and slid onto the floor below.

Tying my hair back, I looked up and gradually saw five figures gather at the top floor.

Not waiting for them to decide to mimic my dive, I flung myself back down—this time feet-first—and descended a floor at a time by handrails until I reached the ground.

My last glance upwards before running out the room revealed an image of the Titans already flying down the stairs.

Somehow, they reminded me of horrific bats, falling on their latest prey.

As I burst into a hallway, the image stayed in my mind and edged me on. The front door proved as easy to open from the inside as it did from the outside and I ran out the door without a single look behind my back.

The bright sunlight surrounded me and I spun around, looking at my surroundings, searching for an escape route.

_Blin_. What were the odds that they would build their base on an island?

A junkyard of rocks littered the courtyard—or whatever one would call it—and the sea around me laid an entrapment on the lone capital T-shaped tower I had just exited.

I scrambled around the rocky bay, searching for any escape route. If I tried to swim away, there would be no chance of me making it. Any bridge or road seemed to be completely out of the question. I arrived at a place in the opposite side of the tower from where the door I had used to escape was located. Still, I saw nothing but the crashes of the waves against the wet, mossy rocks of the shoreline.

How did the Titans get off this ungodly island?

"You know, if you asked nicely, we probably would have shown you the exit."

I painfully turned around and saw Robin standing on a slab of rock higher than mine with his arms crossed and the team lined up beside him. I suddenly realized why they didn't bother locking people in: there was no way for them to get out anyway.

Looking at the floor, I sighed in frustration.

"So, are you going to tell us your name," he asked, "or do we have to win another game of tag?"

I paused and considered giving them a random name, but quickly realized my chance had long been ruined.

"Mika," Beast Boy said behind curious eyes, "her name is Mika."

I sheepishly looked off. I probably shouldn't have given that out so quickly...

"How do you know that, Beast Boy?" Starfire asked, mystified.

The other Titans looked over at him. He nervously chuckled. "Well, uh, we kinda had a nice meet-n-greet on her way out..."

They all turned and looked at me.

I paused. What? Was there something they wanted me to say? What were they implying...?

"Dah! No! On my escape route, I merely hid in a room to evade detection by your orange alien friend. The room happened to belong to the Green One and I gave my name before leaving."

They held their cold stares at me and I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise slightly.

These people were very weird...

Simultaneously, they all burst started laughing.

And they were getting weirder...

"Look, Mika," Cyborg started, "we're grateful for the help you gave us last night, we just wish you would let us repay the favor by helping you out."

"Help me?" I exclaimed. "I never asked to be dragged to an unknown, secluded island, strapped to a table in a dark room, and left off-balance and unattended! _Okh moj Bog, Ya ne mogu verit eto! Amerikantsy delayut eto chasto?_"

"Okay, first of all, I didn't ask to be thrown clear across the room by some chick spouting incantations, either! Second of all—"

Starfire took a step forward and placed a hand on Cyborg's shoulder. "Perhaps," she said softly, "I should use the handle on this situation."

Cyborg looked at her, then stepped back calmly.

"Mika," she said while approaching me, "_Vy govorite po-russki?_"

My eyes nearly came out of their sockets.

"_Da!_" I exclaimed. "_Da, ya delayu! Kak khorosho Vy znaete russkogo?_"

She frowned slightly and wiggled her hand oddly. "_Ne ochen khorosho._"

Raven, Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg stood transfixed. Apparently, they didn't know she knew it either.

She thought carefully then slowly added, "_Ya mog by imet otvet na eto."_

Starfire jumped from the ledge and landed softly in front of me. As she came closer, she stood straight up; I suddenly realized how much taller she was than I. Her hair was much longer and prettier than mine as well; mine reached barely past my shoulders and dwelt in a mousy brown pigment.

She smiled warmly beneath her luscious red hair, then leaned far in. She placed her index and middle finger softly on my lips.

I stood immobile. Nothing I could do could have broken me from her gaze. I stared deeply into her eyes; they were intense and full of a passion I had never seen before in my life.

She delicately took her fingers of my lips, but I hardly noticed: the wells of emerald just captured my breath so vividly, that I couldn't help but stand idly, hypnotized.

Then she gently leaned her face towards mine.

I saw the green ponds grow larger and stronger.

I couldn't fight them.

Then, her lips reached towards me...

...and settled on my forehead.

In a flash, my composure rushed to me.

"What are you—"

I pushed her back and backed away.

"WHAT THE HELL?" the Titans yelled in complete synchronization. Their mouths were open so wide you could fit a pint in each of them.

Starfire blinked in complete confusion. "I am sorry friends, I have done an act of damnation?"

"_Vy probovali potselovat menya!"_ I cried. "_Ya - ne tot tip devochki!"_

"_Nyet!"_ she replied quickly.

Robin weakly took a step forward. "Star, now would be a great time to explain what's going on."

Through a completely glazed-over look, both Beast Boy and Cyborg managed to nod their heads.

Raven cleared her throat and tried to calmly keep the same stoic look she had been wearing since I first saw her, but I could see she was stifling a laugh.

I... was not laughing.

Starfire took a deep breath and explained to the group, "I was attempting to communicate with our guest Mika in what I thought to be her native language. Only, I was not well versed in the language and required physical contact to acquire it more extensively."

I looked up at the remaining Titans and saw them slowly begin to piece together the situation. Still, they seemed a bit confused.

Starfire sensed it as well and attempted to clarify, "We Tamaranians have the innate ability to acquire limited knowledge and skills by touch of key areas of the body. Robin, I believe you remember this."

Robin suddenly acquired a bewildered look.

"When I first arrived on the planet, I remember that I had my first experience with you—"

"Yeah! Okay, I think we all remember." I smiled; _there_ was an interesting story waiting to be told.

"I think we appreciate your effort, but you know English well enough, don't you?" Robin motioned towards me.

"Yes."

"Then, there's no need for further... experimentation."

Beast Boy snickered in the background. Wow, his maturity level was astounding.

"So," Raven asked, stepping forward and floating down to my height in an aura of black, "where'd you come from?"

I paused a moment and saw her eyes searching my face. She wanted the truth, and I instantly knew she would be able to tell whether or not I had given it. "Russia."

Silence.

"Where in Russia?"

"... the City."

"Okay, better question: what are you doing here?"

"Raven." Robin gave the goth a quick look. "Let's not pressure her. After all she was a guest."

"Guest?" I echoed.

"For you injuries."

"Injuries?" The routine was already getting old.

"You stuck your hands into the circuitry of a fully-equipped robot, you must be feeling some damage from the shock."

I looked at my hands, then at my outfit, and then my legs.

"Well, to tell the truth," I admitted, "I do feel a little... eh... um... hung over?"

His expression faltered.

Raven muttered, "She's Russian, alright..."

I smiled. Yeah, that goth was about as fun as a bullet to the leg. "While I appreciate consideration, I must really begin traveling back to my... home."

"In Russia?" Raven asked.

"Of course," I replied through clenched teeth.

"Mika," Starfire began, appearing from seemingly nowhere, "you don't really have a home here, do you?"

So the alien wasn't as oblivious as she let on. There was no use lying, something about her told me she already knew the answer and would know if I was bending the truth too far. But it was something different then that in Raven, something more pure and emotional, yet strong and righteous.

"Well... the bridge covers me from the rain..."

_Blin_, I saw it in her face.

I looked past her and saw it developing on Robin's face.

I saw Beast Boy's face go back and forth from it.

Raven's face was completely devoid of it.

Cyborg... had a slightly harder to read face, considering it was half metal, but I saw it from afar slowly grip his face.

Pity.

_Chyort._ Definitely not something I wanted.

"Listen, we saw that you have... gifts of your own," Robin said as he jumped down, "we have enough room in the Tower to offer you a temporary place to stay and, depending on your own decisions, possibly a place on the team."

I really did not want to commit myself to anything that would hinder me or force me to subjugate to a model, but I couldn't simply refuse an offer like that. I quietly hoped that Raven would say something that would make everyone reconsider.

Of course, she didn't.

Beast Boy and Cyborg dropped from the ledge onto the floor in front of me. They stood and actually lightly smiled.

The current state of my life and my diet and my future flashed in my mind; the alternatives flashed as well. I deliberated between the subjects back and forth for an anxious length of time.

"I accept," I said and reached out my hand.

Robin gripped my hand with his rubbery green glove. "Welcome to the Titans' Tower."


	6. ONE ::: Losing Balance

Book One :_ Losing Balance_

—

"...which only adds to the mysterious string of events plaguing the city as of late. The increasingly frequent attacks by robotic assailants have perplexed the city police; they say that, to date, no actual merchandise or valuables has been reported stolen. However, numerous public areas have been destroyed in clashes with the local Teen Titans.

When asked to comment about the situation, Robin of the Titans said only that the situation was being dealt with as quickly and thoroughly as possible. He stated that, quote, 'the villain behind these cowardly attacks just had his luck run out.'

This promise, though encouraging, is little compensation for the destruction throughout the city. The damage has even reached corporations like the General Dynamics Robotics Systems Corporation: witnesses claimed seeing a break-in not long ago. Interestingly, General Dynamics has not filed a police report for the claimed incident, and has gone as far as to deny the occurrence of any criminal perpetration in their compounds.

Circulating reports state that the events may in fact be connected with the recent terrorist explosion in the downtown area by the group known only by an acronym..."

—

"Give up, pathetic Humans! You have no hope of victory!"

Villains who talk in third person are extremely annoying...

Annoying, egotistical, and usually well-armed.

This type was no different: the only thing more smug than the cocky stance of his towering red and gold figure was the smile on his face as he challenged us. The gigantic robot stood with a ridiculously polished exterior, nearly impermeable armor, and an enormous quarter-meter thick staff apparently made of stainless steel.

"You disgrace the name of the Titans! Surely, Uranus would have been ashamed to have his mantle passed onto such feeble mortals!"

"Perhaps so," Starfire retorted as she joined the rest of the group on the shadowy building top, "but he would never have worried about us being inept enough to end up carrying the world for all eternity like foolish slaves."

Ouch. The Alien knew her mythology.

And her insults too, apparently.

"You dare offend the Great ATLAS?" roared the robot as he flung his hands in the air and stood to his full height. "You shall pay for such insolence."

He swung his staff down at us.

Robin barely managed to shout out "Titans, Go!" before it parted the team in half like the waters of the Red Sea.

Beast Boy, Robin, and I slid to a stop on the right him. Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire crouched to his left a couple meters away. Regaining our balance, we launched an assault from both sides on the robot.

Cyborg's tackle connected first. He drove his shoulder into Atlas' robotic gut with all of his strength and began driving him in the opposite direction.

"I took you on all by my lonesome self last time, Atlas," Cyborg jeered through his grunts, "what makes you think you even stand a chance against all of us as a team?"

Atlas finally looked down at the Titan trying to tackle him.

All of a sudden, Cyborg looked very small in comparison to the towering giant. "Because," he said with a smile as he grabbed Cyborg by the torso and casually hoisted him up in the air, "the gods have made me one of Them."

He bent down and threw him towards us. Fortunately, we all barely managed to scramble out of the way as he flew towards us. Unfortunately, that also meant there was nothing to slow him down. He smacked the edge of the rooftop, and seemed to hang in the air for one painful second before plunging down the building side into the darkness of night below.

"Don't worry, I'll get 'em," Beast Boy yelled over his shoulder as he sprinted over to the edge. "Take care of Atlas!"

He dove in the air after him, with his toes becoming talons as he disappeared over the edge.

Hmm, maybe someday we could try swinging down buildings together…

A swarm of black spears abruptly appeared and descended on Atlas' unprotected side. Raven allowed him no space to breath as she took larger and larger slashes at him with dark energy. The barrage successfully distracted him long enough to allow Robin to manage to aim and shoot out his grappling hook. It flew out, wrapped around his chest and Robin pulled until the line was taut enough to restrain him.

"HA! Your underestimations will be your undoing, puny Humans!" Atlas shouted. With a loud grunt of power, he flexed his arms and burst through the cable. In the same fluid movement, he turned and swung his staff directly at Robin.

He had no time to react.

It caught him directly in the side and carried him off the ground by sheer force. Robin spun with the staff pressed against his ribs and his arm around the it for protection; the last he wanted was to let Atlas throw him off the roof.

Atlas' swing abruptly stopped. As his hands struggled to hold up the metal that had suddenly gotten extremely heavy, he looked up and saw Raven, her eyes and hands sheathed in a black aura. He visibly grew angrier and struggled to move his staff to fling his prey into the streets below.

But Robin was no longer there.

He was flying through the air, already halfway around a complete turn during his leap. As Robin faced Atlas mid-turn, he flung four disks at his exposed torso.

Three fires burst from him as he shielded his face. As the smoke cleared, he looked out from under his arms.

His cautious glance was met by a tempest of flying fists from Starfire. She caught him in the face several times before attacking his torso. With each successive blow, the two veered closer and closer towards the me and, consequently, the edge.

A meter from me and only one and a half from the edge of the rooftop, Starfire threw her last punch and sent him reeling towards me.

I leaped up and landed on his right shoulder, brandishing one of Robin's disks that had flown over Atlas' head. With all my strength, I jammed the shimmering disk into the joint of his shoulder plate. I kicked off of his head and flipped away from him.

My feet had barely touched the ground when the explosion rocked the ground behind me.

I joined Starfire, Robin, and Raven just as an enormous pterodactyl rose above the side of the building carrying Cyborg in his claws. Cyborg seemed fine, and Beast Boy grinned as he changed back into his natural elf state.

I turned and fixed my gaze with the rest of the Titans on the fallen giant. Atlas stood bent over across the rooftop from us, five meters away. Smoke silently rose from the place where I had jammed the explosive disk and small patch of circuitry laid exposed from the blast.

Random areas of his armor were cracked.

His right shoulder was black and burned.

And he staggered, holding himself up despite his irregular breathing.

Irregular breathing? Since when do any robotic creatures even breath?

Just then, he stood completely and yelled across the rooftop. "Humans! You have received a turn at the offensive warfare long enough! Now, cower under the might of ATLAS!"

His threat hung in the air for a split second before he thrust his arms apart and began to glow a more brilliant shade of gold. I had never met the tin can before this fight, but I could tell that the glowing performance was not his usual method of combat by the stunned and intrigued expressions on the faces of the Titans.

Light gleamed off of his armor and his eyes filled with a fury I had never before seen in... a robot.

"It is time to perish, Titans!" he bellowed. "NOW!"

"Guess again, Rust Bucket," Beast Boy gibed.

We went on the offense, again.

As he sprinted, Cyborg shot his sonic cannon at Atlas' unblemished left shoulder.

He dodged it with a sidestep.

Starfire swooped in from an angle and began releasing a volley of starbolts at his unprotected side. He swung his staff, and swatted her out of the sky and into door of the rooftop access stairs.

I neared him from behind and jumped towards the seductively exposed wiring of his right shoulder. I wasn't even a foot off the ground when Atlas spun around and aimed his free right hand at me.

"Settle down, Little Harpy."

His right hand suddenly shot out from his wrist and caught me in the chest. Seconds later, I found myself staring at the night sky on my back. I tried to get up, but I found myself stapled to the ground by the entrenched fingers of the hand. No force I placed could dig them out. Blowing it up was completely out of the question, so I silently struggled to get out while the team continued their attack.

Beast Boy charged in, head first, ready to gore him with his rhinoceros horn, but Atlas apparently had other plans in mind: four sharp, mechanical claws suddenly sprung from the stump that was his wrist and grabbed the assaulting rhino across his wide green face.

Atlas picked him and looked him dead in the eyes.

"You truly do entertain me, Human." With that, he thrust him up into the air and swung at him with his staff. It connected and sent Beast Boy sailing away in deep pain.

He stared at his success long enough to let Robin get close to him.

"You're finished, Atlas. There's no one left to fix you up or give you your weapons now," Robin shouted as he led in with his bo staff.

Atlas retorted as he blocked the swing with his mechanical claw. "Wrong again, puny titan. I've just begun the alliance that will give me victory!"

Robin led a flurry of swings and stabs that should have pushed him back towards the ledge, but Atlas stood his ground and countered each one with a slash of his sharpened claw and staff.

Thrusting with all of my might for the last time, I finally managed to tear the hand out of the ground and off of me. I looked back towards Robin and saw him swing the staff down at Atlas' body from its raised position above his own head. Atlas caught the bo staff in his clawed hand and counterattacked with his Gargantuan leg.

The kick sent Robin sprawling.

Spinning around, I flung the immense hand as hard as I could to attack.

Raven barely saw it coming towards her.

Her focus on Atlas nearly distracted her, but she managed to catch it with a timely flick of her wrist.

She stared baffled at it, like she had never seen a hand in her entire life. Her gaze shifted to me, and suddenly her face gained a look of fury. Her shoulders grew tense as she opened her mouth to berate me.

I didn't give her the chance.

"Don't just stare at it, USE IT!"

She paused slightly, as if considering whether or not to send it right back, but reluctantly, she gripped it with her dark energy and turned to the jeering robot.

"I'll bet you think you're the Queen of the Underworld!" Atlas said with a laugh as he eyed his own hand floating before him.

"Persephone?" Raven answered, as her body became encased in black, "No, that would involve occasionally giving a damn about springtime..."

She swung her arm swiftly and the black robotic hand delivered Atlas a blow solidly across his metallic jaw.

"...and I don't _do _springtime."

The hand flailed out at Atlas' defending figure like a prize boxer: mercilessly jabbing and striking hits to various body parts. Meanwhile, a menacing shadow-like claw emerged from the ground and slashed at Atlas from behind.

As they traded blows and clashed, I couldn't help but stare ravenously at the sparks of energy dancing around the claws and the robot. Raven's own creations glowed darkly with power. My fingers began to itch for action.

"HA!" Atlas shouted as he dodged both the claw and his own hand. "You humans are so feisty. It's no wonder you stumble into so many errors!"

He abruptly snatched his hand out of the air and slid it into place on his retracting claws.

Atlas pivoted and dashed through the black energy claw, causing it to vanish away. He stopped abruptly though, once he reached the edge of the building top.

"Game over, Atlas." Robin said as we lined up next to him, effectively cutting off Atlas' escape routes. "Nowhere to go; nowhere to hide."

Atlas roared in laughter. "Simple-minded Humans! There's ALWAYS some place to go!"

Still laughing, he lifted his hand straight up in the air, then brought it down on the floor in front of him.

A huge quake rocked the floor beneath us as small cracks formed sporadically along the floor and we all fought to maintain our balance. In the same fluid motion, Atlas brought his staff down in front of himself and rode the crumbling floor into the offices below.

We all stood somewhat unsure of what to do. Robin motioned us towards the hole in front of us, and we barely began investigating when the floor beneath us gave completely away.

No one had time to fly.

The falling debris pulled us in and each one of us fell straight into the floor below.

—

I opened my eyes to a burgundy carpet that smelled oddly like old leather. My eyes took a quick moment to adjust to the room lit only by the pale moonlight that dripped in from the ceiling. When I could finally see further than my own outstretched arm, I saw that we were in an office of some sort, obviously closed for the night.

From someplace near me I heard someone shout to check if we were all okei.

As muffled mumbles arose from the rocks, I lifted myself up from the dust around me and saw Beast Boy, Raven, and Robin doing the same next to me. A big pile of concrete flew up and Cyborg and Starfire emerged from the rubble not too far away.

It was then that I notice a faint blue glow from a corner. Amazingly, Atlas stood only slightly bent over as he managed to finger the individual keys on a computer.

"What you lack in strength, you make up for in grace," he said as he pulled off a module from the back of the CPU of the computer. He laughed mockingly and held the module to his chest; a small compartment opened up and he placed it in carefully. Atlas looked up and stared into an incoming fleet of onyx concrete rocks. The impact barely scratched his arm, but it provide one second of distraction.

I was on him before he or I even knew it.

My fingers danced over his right shoulder delicately as I eyed the openings of his armor.

He jerked frantically as I found the place where I had blown an opening earlier. Like only days before, I felt the delicious numbness zap my fingers, then begin crawling up my arm.

As he twitched, he reached madly for my with his two free hands.

But I had no intention of getting off.

I swung across his side without ever breaking the current. I saw a small slab of concrete still encased in black off to the side and reached for it with my free right hand. The ebony oozed into me and as I swung the weapon against his face, I felt the euphoric intoxication spread across my entire body.

I was in charge.

I knew it.

He knew it.

He fought it anyway.

With an inhuman strain, he roared and pulled his staff off the floor and into my side.

Under different circumstances, I probably could have ducked, but at the point, I didn't think it would even touch me.

I was wrong.

I crumpled under the blow and fell away. I landed and immediately looked back up with rage in my eyes and a bitter snarl.

"Miserable leech!" he shouted at me, lowering his weapon. He turned to face the Titans, who had all stood up by that point, and pointed with his right hand. "If my mission here weren't complete, I would eradicate your pitiful existence from the face of the Earth!"

Atlas clenched his fists, slowly regaining his strength. He faced the Titans and took two powerful steps before leaping clear over them, flying through the the gaping hole in what was left of the roof.

Landing heavily, he turned and glanced at the team one last time.

Cyborg aimed his sonic cannon at him. Raven extended her hands, palms outward. Robin readied three birdarangs. Starfire's hands glowed brilliantly green. Beast Boy's lion form was crouched, ready to pounce.

"Don't bother," Atlas said with a sinister smile spread across his face. "Until next time Titans, remember: the gods always strike from Above."

His red and gold figure turned and leaped off the rooftop.

The team reacted. "Don't let him get away!" Robin yelled.

The Titans arrived at the rooftop and peered over the edge and saw...

Nothing.

A drop of water fell over the edge of the roof.

Several small raindrops soon followed.

Atlas had disappeared clear off the map.

—

The couch in the Main Room is very comfortable.

I couldn't believe how comfortable it was the first time I sat on it: it was like someone had built it with cushioning designed specifically for comfort. You could barely feel the wooden frame underneath. All of the furniture I had ever sat on had been built for endurance out of solid wood and steel and fell more heavily towards purpose than pleasure.

The beds were heavenly.

Just heavenly.

I determined quickly that the Teen Titans must be rich. When I asked Cyborg a day after arriving where they got their funds for the crimefighting operation, he just answered, "Eh, we have our sources..."

I stared at him awhile before asking, "Like the source you visited last night?"

He jumped back. "No! No. That—that was just—a... just—"

"—undercover work," Robin answered, walking between us.

He had the habit of doing just that: having a quick, premeditated answer for any question I could ask at any time.

"I was not aware that undercover work in your country included illegal practices."

"Sometimes, the ends have to justify the means."

He never stuttered, never faltered, but sometimes—rarely—he didn't answer back.

"Isn't that how psychopaths justify crimes to themselves in their mind? They become fixated on a goal then excuse their obsessive ruthlessness with the idea that they _must_ reach that goal."

Silence.

He stood absolutely still with a look that could have made a stone cry.

Cyborg fidgeted nervously in the background.

I sensed that I had struck a sensitive chord and abandoned that conversation. "So..." I looked around, "your couches are very comfortable..."

It was on those couches that we sat that night when we returned from our battle on the rooftop.

Robin paced in front of the television.

Raven, in a stoically sullen demeanor that I was beginning to suspect was actually part of her personality, sat on the side of the couch furtherest from me. Cyborg casually rested on the seat next to her, looking at something in the computer in his right forearm. Beast Boy slouched on the space next to him, eyes drooping slightly; he looked about ready to fall asleep right where he sat. Starfire sat next to me with a peaceful look on her face that defied the weariness that the others obviously felt. On the other end, I waited for someone to say something about anything.

My feet tapped impatiently on the floor and my fingers fidgeted in my clasped hands. I periodically shook my back from small spasms that wormed their way through.

"That was not the Atlas we fought before," Robin announced to no one in particular.

"You're tellin' me..." Cyborg muttered.

Everyone else seemed to agree.

I just sat there.

"How is it that you were able to beat all on your own the last time we fought him, but now the entire team couldn't keep him down?" Robin asked Cyborg.

"Look, I know what he felt like last time we fought, and this time, he definitely felt... richer."

"Richer?" Beast Boy asked.

"I don't know," Cyborg stood and faced everyone, "it was like... he just had more _to_ him... Like he was completed by something else inside of him."

The Titans stared back, completely baffled.

Cyborg looked away. "Nevermind... look, he wasn't fighting on his own. And he sure wasn't dependent on some huma—I mean—person to keep him up in battle."

Silence.

"I believe Cyborg is right," Starfire ventured. "Not only have his strength and dexterity grown, but his pride and disdain as well; he must have received additional strength from some other source."

"Yeah, that's great," Beast Boy answered, "but we have a little less than NO idea where that strength could be coming from."

Nobody answered.

Silence.

I almost started choking on the awkwardness in the air.

They were all thinking of the exact same person; at that moment, each one had the same name hanging in their mind. They didn't say anything, they didn't do anything, and that's why I knew the name was there.

It was the same name that Starfire had almost dropped two days ago, the first day I spent fully conscious at the tower.

"And this," she had said leading me into a room, "is the evidence room."

I remember looking around at the odd assortment of mementos: a black wand, a cane with a jewel on top of it, a remote control, a red computer chip, and... a puppet?

"This is a very... impressive... collection," I said. "Isn't it unsettling, though, walking in here and seeing so much evil in one room?"

"Perhaps," Starfire said as she looked around at the multitude of objects. She suddenly brightened up, "But the feng shui isn't half of a bad."

I stood, lost beyond recovery. Before I could even ask what fung shway was, she continued her soliloquy.

"It's not as bad as it seems, friend Mika: we keep all of the Sla—Um, that is—the worst evidence downstairs in the archives of the basement floor."

And there it had been.

As time wore on, I realized that they weren't fearing the name.

They were trying forgetting it.

And they weren't doing a very job of it.

"The gods."

I shook my head, returning to the conversation going on in front of me.

"What?" Raven asked, speaking up for the first time in the room.

"Atlas mentioned something about the gods twice: once before and once after the fight," Robin explained. "Whatever made him stronger, it came from them."

"Uh, Robin," Beast Boy said, "you can't seriously be serious about taking his crazy 'gods' bit serious."

"No, " Raven interjected, "that was just his overinflated ego ranting, but he was unintentionally, or maybe intentionally, revealing something about his sources when he went off on his speech."

"Still not very clear on just who his sources are..."

There came a slight pause in the conversation. I took a breath and dove in.

"The gods always strike from Above."

They all turned around, apparently barely remembering I was in the room.

"Unless he was a completely defective android," I continued, "he openly and shamelessly named his sources."

I looked around at their faces. They looked at me seriously, asking me to continue.

Silence.

"... ABOVE," I finished.

There was no surprise in any of their faces. In fact, it was almost as if they were waiting for me to say exactly that.

"How exactly," Beast Boy, of all people, asked, "do you know about ABOVE?"

I fumbled around for words.

"What? I- You-..." I stopped and took a breath. "Enormous screen. Black background. White letters. Projected death threat. Followed a monstrous explosion... Perhaps you were there, too?"

He sat back down on the couch, apparently having risen a little while I stammered to answer. "Right."

All eyes looked away, as if seeing something shameful for the first time behind me.

"We still have no information on ABOVE," Robin continued, as if nothing had happened. "Heck, beyond the letter we pocketed at the office and the message from the city board, we have no evidence of their connection to the robot crimes."

"Then we must continue our investigation with the ABOVE," Starfire confirmed, rising from the couch, "as well as the possible connections to the robotic assaults."

The gathering seemed to be unofficially over, and most of the team stood.

I followed suite and arose to leave, but Beast Boy stood in front of me, looking a little odd. Well... odder than a quirky green shape shifter with a maturity level lower than absolute zero would normally be.

"Listen Mika," he started, "earlier, I didn't mean to get all up in your face... I, uh, just was trying to see if, um, we... could—you know... like..."

"...Trust me?" I finished.

"What? Oh! No! No way! Look, I just thought maybe we should—"

"It's okei," I interrupted, "don't explain anything to me. Do whatever you would normally do if you had someone you didn't know suddenly come live with you: be cautious and careful."

He stood back, not physically reacting to what I said.

I could see, though. He knew I was right.

Trust nobody.

Especially the new girl.

The new girl who isn't even a Titan, just a drifter temporarily staying in the Tower.

Not really knowing what to do, I just patted him on the shoulder and walked past him. I noticed as I did that my head was only slightly taller than his; he was probably about the same age as I was, maybe younger.

That was something I could never understand. How could a motley group of teenagers survive, not only through daily life, but through the life of a costumed crimefighters completely on their own?

Even back at School, there was always _somebody_ watching us; we were never alone at any moment. But the Titans seemed to live without any supervision or interference from the adult world.

I walked to the door that led from the Main Room to the bedrooms.

I couldn't even imagine how they managed to build this tower. From what I had seen, they were fully capable of having constructed it themselves. They certainly had the manpower for it.

I walked the way to my room in silence. I palmed the pad outside of the room and walked in.

The walls were bare, painted white. A bed sat in the far corner with white bedsheets and two white pillows. I don't know why they decided to furnish the room that way, but it was cleaner than virgin snow. A small lamp and radio adorned the bureau next to the bed and a wooden desk in the corner faced the door of the room.

The only other thing in the room was a wooden crate I had found in the basement filled with things I had brought with me from under the bridge.

Unwrapping my scarf from around my neck, I slowly walked to my bed and sat down.

I pulled up the faded dark red cloth of my pants and gently took off the shoes on my feet. One of the first things the Titans had offered me when I arrived were those slippers.

Cyborg had looked at the cloth wrapping I had on my feet for cover and made the decision instantly. "We're getting you something for your feet."

"I already _have_ something," I protested, pointing at the covering.

He completely ignored what I said and had a maroon pair of slippers sitting on my bed in mere hours. They were stiff but flexible on the bottom, made of some sort of leather, and wrapped around my feet like the shoes of a ballet dancer. Every time I stepped in them, I felt like Anna Pavlova, enchanting the audience with every moment.

They had to go.

He was washing his car when I walked up to him, the pair in my hand.

"I think you may have accidentally left these in my room," I said to his back.

"Nope. They were there on purpose," he replied without even looking back.

"Look, I can't accept these."

"And why not?"

"Because... I can't just accept some random donation!" It also didn't help that I felt slightly bad for attacking him in the infirmary a day or two before.

"It's not a donation."

"Then what is it?"

"A gift."

"From who? _You?_ Why?"

"From all of the Titans," he said, finally turning around to face me. His human eye stared at me with an odd compassion, and it made me shiver. "Think of it as a welcoming gift."

"Do you always give such expensive gifts to your gifts?"

He faltered, mulling over something in his head and chose to avoid the question. "I didn't _buy_ them."

Silence.

"Wha- You _made_ them?" I asked incredulously.

"With my own two hands."

Silence.

"Obaldet!"

He looked at me in confusion. "What?"

"Mmm... wow?"

"Oh."

I laughed as I pulled my shirt over my head. The shoes perfectly matched my shirt, though they were thinner, smoother, and infinitely more comfortable.

I didn't really see a tailor when I first saw Cyborg; the image of him cleaning the car of his was a lot more easy to picture. But the shoes were sitting on the floor in front of me, and somehow they matched my outfit.

I tossed my shirt aside and walked towards the door now in my formerly white tank top and still wearing my pants.

I reached out locked the door with the simple press of a button.

They may be Titans, but they're still teenage boys...

I was probably prejudging like I did Cyborg, but then again, prejudgments aren't always wrong.

Raven.

Dark, reclusive, mysterious, and slightly bitter. I didn't know her story, but I knew it was probably one of sorrow. One that invoked pity and fear. She was probably scarred or abused or maybe abandoned in her early life, but then again, what person in this line of business hasn't?

I almost chuckled at the irony: she probably didn't want pity anymore than I did.

I took out the nunchaka from my waistline and undid the small bag tied to the other side. Placing them in the wooden crate, I walked into the small bathroom adjoining my room.

The other Titans certainly didn't seem to pity her; in fact, I felt an usual amount of unspoken respect from them towards her. Probably for a good reason, too. In battle, from the little I had observed of her, she seemed to keep a clear head, and her powers were deliciously dark. She must be a telepath of some sort, to move the way she does with her black aura.

But I had sensed something else as well from the beginning.

I turned on the water in the shower and took off my remaining clothes.

Telepaths don't have to meditate.

They concentrate, but they certainly don't have to be as stoic as Raven seems to always be. Both mornings I had arisen in the Tower, I had noticed her heading to and from the stairs.

"Where does she go every morning?" I asked Starfire yesterday morning when she was cooking some sort of food covered in a dull gray fluid.

"She is going to the rooftop of the Tower to meditate," she replied.

I paused momentarily to try to figure it on my own, but eventually gave in and asked. "Why does she need to meditate?"

She started mixing the ingredients in front of her slightly faster. "Well, she... Raven likes having a balanced state of mind."

Not satisfied but wary of prodding to harshly, I stopped the topic and continued my morning.

I later threw up from eating the green _thing _she had made.

Shivering in the shower as the cold water hit my skin, I realized the frigid temperature was probably the only thing that kept me from throwing up again. I really couldn't have avoided the nausea, though. Starfire had insisted on making breakfast for the Titans and I last night; she talked extensively about reading a book series on a certain style of cooking and believing that she had perfected a blend of certain dishes.

Somehow, she seemed so genuinely eager to serve us that I couldn't refuse the offer.

The Titans insisted that I refuse.

"Dude, we totally understand that you're being polite and all that good stuff," Beast Boy had said to me when Starfire had left, "but for the safety of everyone's stomachs and the sink drain, don't let her make her crazy alien food!"

I refused to back down on my acceptance.

"I really can't see what would be so terrible about her cooking. She's bound to have some sort of maternal culinary skills in her."

I was dead wrong. Maybe it's because of alien heritage, or maybe the poor girl can't cook at all, but her food was awful.

"It has a base of gelatin and meat products. I added some zorka berries for flavoring and..."

I had sprinted to the restroom and out the door before I could hear the rest.

Still, we could all tell she had tried hard to please us... but she had just failed miserably at it. Starfire had an honesty about her that made me want to trust her. I don't know why, but she seemed to have some sort of quality that made me think it would kill her to lie to anyone. It doesn't mean that I _do_ trust her, but I know that someday that quality might prove invaluable.

Starfire seemed to be the emotion of this group, and she apparently took the role rather enthusiastically. Every team is almost required to have a weight like Starfire to counter the gravity and solemnity of operating in the world of evil adults.

We used to.

I stepped out of the shower, colder than the tundra and wrapped myself in a large soft towel, white of course.

In the Teen Titans, I guess the weight of distraction fell both on Starfire and Beast Boy. They seemed to acknowledge this idea from what I had seen and regularly exercised their gifts to diffuse numerous situations.

Sometimes, Beast Boy used it very regularly and I was already beginning to suspect that his habits could get... annoying.

But I guess it's a necessary evil. The team would be morbidly depressing if they allowed the pursuit of crime to dampen their world. Beast Boy's amusing, if not somewhat cheesy, antics and Starfire's lightly naïve nature saved the group from... themselves.

I kneeled down and pulled a blue duffel bag out from under the bed. I placed it on the bed and took out the only other pair of clothes I had: a white T-shirt with the phrase "I HEART SF" ironed onto the front and a heavily-used pair of jean shorts.

I quickly changed into them and sat on the bed. The lamp lit up the half of the room I sat in and cast a warm glow towards the far away dark side of the room.

Then there's Robin.

He's the only one of the team who wears a physical mask. I'm sure everyone else has their own mental barriers and emotional quirks, but no one else displays such an aggressive denial of human weakness. Apparently, he feels the need to hide something of himself behind the eyemask that adorns his face.

I wondered what could possibly drive him to fight crime the way he did: I hadn't seen him sleep before, wake up later, or stop fighting earlier than anyone else.

It brinked on obsession.

I laid down on the bed and rested my head on the pillow as final thoughts crossed my mind.

They watched my every move. I took a walk on the island in the morning, and I could feel their eyes on me. They were kind and polite, but they entered spasms of unspoken paranoia that caught me completely off guard. I was getting lazy. I should be just as alert as they are.

It's the only way to get ahead in life:

Trust nobody.

Not even yourself...

My eyelids got heavy, and I reached for the lamp.

The world grew dark and I stared weakly at the ceiling.

A question that had bothered me for the past three days emerged from the recesses of my mind and floated up to my surface thoughts, bobbing as I considered it drowsily:

I wonder if there are any poles on the outside of this tower?


	7. Had

I never could understand why someone would willingly wake up at the break of dawn.

Especially to actually _do_ something.

Like meditating.

Or training.

Or cooking.

Or... waking others.

"Rise and shine pumpkin," Cyborg sang through my door.

Rolled over in bed, groaned, and—

Did he just call me a vegetable?

The door slid open and I stood, still in my sleepwear.

We stood eye-to-eye for nearly a minute in complete silence.

"You called me a vegetable," I said, breaking the silence. "Would you like to see if I taste like one?"

He stared at me, looking slightly curious and scared.

"You only get one try, though," I continued, "and you better hope it paralyzes me, because then I'm going to tear your power cell out and eat it."

I smiled sweetly and waved. "Bye now!"

The door slid shut in his face.

"...Grumble... Robin... grumble... training... grumble... tofu and eggs..." came the mumblings from the other side.

I ignored them completely.

Realizing that my morning had officially been flung from the comfort of the bed and into the rest of the day, I slipped into my clothes and laced my shoes. I crossed the room in three grand jetés. Opening the door, I peered out into the hallway and saw no one. Before going down the hallway, I walked up to the window at the end of the hall.

I peered down.

I was looking out of the left arm of the tower's T shape into the sea that surrounded the base.

My room was the last dormitory in the hallway; another empty one separated my room from Beast Boy's. A closet was in between his and Robin's room and somewhere down the line, Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg had rooms situated between large bathroom, laundry, and closet spaces. Cyborg's room was some sort of a laboratory setting, his bed a contraption that seemed to be half mattress and half battery charger.

The only empty room in the entire wing where the Titans slept was the one next to me, and for some reason the vacuum that had lain next to me for three days was locked. The locked room and mine shared the bathroom I had taken a shower in the last couple of nights and the locks were designed to allow both rooms access by there. The restroom could be locked from the inside on both doors, and all I needed to do was unlock the door from the inside to get into the locked room.

At least, that's what I thought. Even unlocked, the door stood absolutely solid, as if it was cemented into place; no amount of pressure I applied could even budge it. I even tried palming the panel outside of the door, but it didn't respond, like it wasn't even activated. Starfire skipped over it completely when she showed me the tower and went from Beast Boy's to my room without a word.

It certainly wasn't the most comforting of situations: being assigned the last room in the hallway with a ghost room next to me, and if there was any type of emergency, I would have to run over two hundred meters to even arrive at the Main Room.

Well, at least I had a nice view...

I slowly walked down the hallway. Nearly indistinguishable from each other, the doors trudged past me as I sauntered by.

I walked by until I arrived at Raven's door. In the roughly four days I had been here in the tower, I had never seen her door open.

Today was no exception.

I looked at the panel outside her door. It looked exactly like every other one in the tower I had seen. Yet somehow, it seemed to plead with you not to touch it. Like it begged you not to tread on the grounds that would surely eat you alive.

It was downright scary.

Not that I was afraid of it, or Raven for that matter, but I didn't think it was wise to cause "unnecessary trouble."

I moved slightly backwards, as if to distance myself from the trouble, and stepped on something soft.

"You're standing on my left foot."

I didn't even have to turn around to know the Goth was stand behind me.

"Izvinichye," I said as I moved towards her room and turned around.

She stood there and looked at me.

I stood there and looked at her.

I wondered if maybe she was waiting for me to say something...

"So... it's a nice day for meditation, isn't it?"

I never had the urge to strangle myself more than at that moment.

"Meditation is not supposed to be nice," she replied, devoid of any emotion.

Devoid of emotion...

"Then what should it be?" I ventured.

"Neutral: neither pleasant nor painful, just natural."

Neutral...?

"What?" Suddenly I was a slightly confused. "Are you not supposed to feel blissful enlightenment at some point or another?"

"For me, it's not about the bliss or even the enlightenment," she answered moving past me, "it's about the balance."

Balance...?

Raven palmed the door and took a step in her room.

Then it hit me.

"BLIN!" I cried.

She turned around, already in her room.

I stared at her dumbly. If I were alone, I would have slapped myself.

"You're an empath!"

She continued staring. "Great work, Sherlock."

The door closed between us and I shook my gaze.

To hell with "unnecessary trouble," this was going to be fun...

—

Raven stepped back, walked over to her bed, and mindlessly pulled a book from her shelf as she went. She sat on her bed gently and crossed her legs. The book opened slightly and she peered at the words, going through all of the motions of reading.

But she wasn't.

She just stared at the paper in front of her; never even realizing it was upside down.

"...Empath... no kidding... kind of obvious..." she mumbled.

Her comatose gaze held no emotion, but thoughts of it obviously held her attention. She suddenly grimaced and looked off into space.

"...Was she...?"

Silence.

"Was she...?"

Silence.

"Was she laughing at me?"

The silence laughed at her louder.

—

I palmed the door and stepped into the Main Room without a pause, thinking about the confusion Raven was probably feeling. The scene in front of me caught my attention. Curiously, there was always somebody doing something in the tower and if you stopped, you were pulled in—

"Mika, would you assist me in my morning task?"

—inadvertently.

I looked over and saw Starfire with an apron and two yellow gloves.

Dishes?

She wanted help with dishes?

"Sure," I answered with hesitation.

I walked toward her and awkwardly stood beside her. "What... do you need help with?"

She smiled and answered, "I simply require a means to dry them off and return them to respective locations."

I nodded and went to work. At first, I just uncomfortably stood aside and wiped them as they came, but I eventually started working a rhythm. She scrubbed and rinsed, and I dried and put away. It suddenly became so mechanical that I found my mind distracted. I wondered how on earth a group of five teenagers could amount so many dirty dishes. I cringed at the thought of how many days it must have taken to collect so much waste...

"Mika," Starfire began, "did you ever live in the Russia?"

"Yes," I answered, still captivated by the thought of the sheer amount of grime on the plates, "that's were I came to America from."

"How did you manage to learn such proper English?"

Wow, there must have been a colony of fungus on the brink of expansion on the plates Starfire was washing... "School. The General said deciphering the encrypted messages would do use no good if they were in a language we didn't know."

I swear one of the plates was growing something purple.

"That is wonderful," Starfire exclaimed. "I was not aware that the Soviet Union had embraced the fundamental language of capitalism!"

I suddenly became aware of what she was saying. "What?"

"Yes!" she continued, looking off into space. "The USSR must have come to better terms with the United States since the sequel to the Global War... Perhaps they are even allies!"

I felt a familiar dumb stare creep over my face.

"Tell me, friend Mika," Starfire raved, her voice getting higher and higher, "are there communist lands here in America?"

"Um, actually Star—"

"Why am I asking? Of course there must be! America and the Union must be allies!"

"Listen, Star—"

"How could they possible reconcile their vast differences? Perhaps the Stalin negotiated? Of course he did!" Her mouth was moving faster than a lightning bolt. "The President would have met with him and the countries would have formed a treaty! And they have formed a joint superpower as well! The work force of the Union united with the resources of the America would have formed a glorious and beloved matrimony of the Eagle and the Bear!"

"STARFIRE!"

She paused and looked at me. "Did you attend the wedding of the Bear with Wings?"

I didn't even know how answer the question. "Starfire..." I started, "the Soviet Union doesn't exist anymore."

She continued to stare off and asked mystically, "The title was altered in the matrimony with the America?"

"There was no wedding," I explained, "the Soviet Union came apart when communism fell."

"Fell?"

"Yeah... in 1992."

"But my books only cover American history up to the year of one thousand nine hundred and forty-five..." she protested. She gasped. "I am ignorant of over half a century of history!"

Throwing the dish in her hand to me, she launched off to the wing opposite of the rooms, and suddenly I found myself abandoned at a job I had only been asked to help with. I shrugged and continued scrubbing at the dishes, wondering about the undiscovered species of bacteria I was killing off.

"Booyah!" I heard from behind me. "That's game, little man!"

Drying off the last dish, I searched for the cabinet to store them in.

"...That's FIVE in a row, baby!"

I found the cabinet, stacked in the plates, and turned to see what could be so exciting. I saw Beast Boy and Cyborg, laid out on the couch, mashing away at control pads.

Video games.

I walked up behind them and watched the game. Two figures on the screen flailed away at each other outside of some sort of castle. Cyborg seemed to be a pilot with flaming kicks and punches; I could tell it was he by the way he was wailing on the small boy with the baseball cap. The kid's random blasts of energy and baseball bat really didn't seem like nearly enough to put down the captain. Suddenly the pilot charged up a punch.

The kid walked right into it.

The punch followed through and the boy went flying past a tower and off the screen in a flash of green.

Cyborg jumped up. "What now, boy? That makes SIX!"

He noticed me and spoke. "Hey Mika, wanna give it a shot here? I've had my fill for the day and Beast Boy really isn't giving me any competition..."

"Dude, it's cause you use the same freakin' moves every time! That's called being a cheap bast—"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, man." He turned and offered me the control pad. "Wuddaya say?"

I shifted my weight to my other leg. "I don't really play... vids. I don't actually know how..."

"It's easy! I'll show you."

"No!—I mean, no thanks... I really don't want to."

"Are you sure?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

I knew he was never going to let up if I didn't give in, so I walked over to the pile of games that sat next to the base of the television and quickly looked through for anything that I thought I could fake interest in.

I flipped through one after the other and sighed. What kind of games were these people playing? Final Fantasy? What was that, some sort of erotic death game? What the heck is a Metroid? I was about to give up and just leave, when a game caught my eye.

That was the one.

I picked it up and took it to Cyborg.

He looked at the title and gave me a strange look. "You wanna play _this_?"

I nodded furiously.

He shrugged and went to the game system. He pressed some button and inserted the disk somewhere. Cyborg grabbed a controller and chose a few options on the screen.

Suddenly, a familiar music started flowing from the screen.

It was quick, it was lively, and it made me laugh.

I hadn't heard that music in over two years.

I smiled and started the game.

—

An 'L' shape appeared at the top of the screen.

In half a second, it appeared at the bottom of the screen.

A square appeared at the top, shifted two spaces over instantly, and appeared at the bottom without ever dropping a line.

A line appeared.

Shifted.

Dropped.

A 'Z' shape appeared.

A 'J' shape.

A two-story pyramid.

An 'S' shape.

Another 'S' shape.

In fifteen seconds, there were thirty-two stacked pieces on the screen with a single empty space running down the center.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Beast Boy and Cyborg gawking open-mouthed at the screen.

"Sweet God..."

"My eyes hurt..."

I was on the second level in a minute and ten seconds.

"I thought you didn't play video games," Cyborg said without every letting his eyes move from the television.

"Well," I admitted, "none but this one."

The music marched on furiously. I marched on with it, matching the tempo of the song with dropping pieces.

Beast Boy reached a hand behind his head. "Geez... but Tetris? That's so random!"

"Not really," I answered, "it was invented in Russia. It's also the only vid we were allowed to play in School."

"What?" Beast Boy recoiled in mock horror... or maybe real horror. "No video games? Mika, welcome to land of the free! Here, in school we can—"

Cyborg picked him up by the head and whispered something into his ear.

His ears managed to droop. "—can't do the same things you can't either. Yeah... school just plain sucks..."

Suddenly, I heard a door swish open far away. Footsteps approached us and a voice suddenly spoke up.

"That's some nice hand-eye you got going there, Mika," Robin said.

"...Thanks," I replied.

"I see Cyborg woke you up and told you the agenda for today like I asked him to."

I nodded and turned around, still twitching commands into the control pad in my hand. Cyborg threw daggers with his eyes and I just faintly smiled. Score another point for the hormonally unbalanced dura...

"We're having an early morning training session today," he continued, "courtesy of our failure last night against Atlas." I noticed Beast Boy and Cyborg stifling a groan in their throats. "We'll meet on the seventh floor in fifteen minutes."

Robin started towards the computer room, but turned around one last time. "Oh yeah, guys," he added, "count on some individual sparring."

He turned around and smiled slyly at us.

Then his eyes opened completely.

"Son of a— Are you playing without watching?"

Without turning back to the screen, I finished the Tetris I had been building during his speech. I mentally pictured the line entering the hole that split the screen.

I answered with eyes still on him. "I memorized the algorithms."

Three mouths hung wide open.

"That's just creepy."

—

I ducked underneath a robotic arm.

Seventh floor.

Six combatants.

Three fights.

No holding back.

I kicked forward and Cyborg staggered back, off-balance. I leaped from my crouch in an attempt to land on top of him.

He caught me in the air with his feet and flung me with my own motion over his head. I flew through the air and twisted around. My feet met the wall and I push off to roll into a low fighting stance on the ground.

Cyborg was already on his feet, six meters away. I ran at him, leaning forward slightly.

He raised his hand and fired.

Barely reacting quickly enough, I twitched and it missed my shoulder by the length of a hair. I continued running towards him and as he thrust his arm forward to counter my speed with a punch, I jumped and leaned back wards.

I hit the ground and slide between his legs.

I reached out my arm and pulled his right leg back as I passed back. I caught him by surprise and he fell to his knee and put his hands on the ground.

Perfect. I stood behind him on his right side and, in a single motion, I pulled out my nunchaka and swung at his right arm. The connection would knock him flat and allow me to disable him.

To my complete surprise, as the nunchaka hit his hand, it disconnected.

My swing carried me through into an awkwardly unbalanced position and I only heard the sound of the cannon charging.

Chyort.

The blast blew me back into the ceiling above and I crashed into the floor rolling back until I hit the titanium wall of the arena.

I'd been had.

I quickly looked around and observed the battles going on beyond us.

Shortly ahead, the scene looked like some sort of galactic battle: green and black flashes danced vividly as the two girls flew around and launched wave after wave of intense energy. Amazingly, the walls were reinforced to the point where their blasts didn't even mark the shiny metallic surface.

Currently, Starfire was on the offense, mercilessly hammering away from the air at the standing Raven. Each intense green starbolt was met with the sturdy shield of a black aura. Raven was bidding her time as she led Starfire around the room, keeping an eye on the room behind her and Starfire's attacks at the same time.

Her patience paid off: throwing an unusually large starbolt, Starfire paused only slightly in her barrage of green fury.

She'd been had.

Raven unleashed a mass of black energy she had been storing and Starfire abruptly dropped to avoid it... and flew into the backslap of an enormous black claw.

Starfire hit the wall full force and slid down only a few feet from me. She turned, painfully squinted, and said, "I see you too friend Mika have been 'had.'"

I nodded, stood up, and looked at the third battle.

Robin had been riding at least one form of green animal for almost fifteen minutes. The only barrier that held a limitation to Beast Boy's quickly changing forms was the six-meter ceiling. A green ram charged about, flailing around, trying desperately to get Robin off his back, but he gripped the horns obstinately, apparently determined to force Beast Boy to unleash a transformation that would overcome him. The fatigue was visible as he finally morphed into a green rhinoceros and twisted around as he charged to the middle of the room.

Robin jumped up and landed on the rhino's head, bringing him crashing face first into the ground and turning him into a sliding battering ram.

They finally stopped moving, Robin jumped off, and Beast Boy stood up.

He knew he'd been had.

Robin had devised a system of quick, intense, 10-minute average fights of full force; he had explained to us earlier that nothing should be held back, as the exercise was to simulate the drive of insane and delusion villains. The brawl ended when the one of the fighters got "had."

"How will we know when we've been the 'had?'" Starfire had asked before we began.

"Trust me," Robin answered instantly with barely noticeable grin, "you'll both know."

"Alright…" Robin proclaimed, and I snapped back to reality, "next round."

—

My hands shot forward to catch Cyborg's right foot. Instead of trying to free his foot, he leaned forward and applied even more pressure. From my lying position, I couldn't find away to escape without being crushed. I was tired, out of breath and out of ideas, so I tried a trick from the first fight we had.

I pulled back and kicked his left leg out from under him.

He hit the floor like a stone.

I pushed myself off the ground with my hands and landed on my feet. I reached into my small waistbag and pulled out five small metallic spheres, designed and given to me by the very person about to be attacked by them. I guess you could call that ironic…

They only received a charge only large enough to leave a hazy fog around Cyborg that prevented him from seeing me pounce. As I landed, his right arm—reattached since our first skirmish—transformed into a cannon. My foot was already on it though, and I saw the surprise in his eyes as he realized his predicament. Using my left hand, I pulled out my nunchaka and swatted away his attempts of kicking me and throwing me off. Without realizing it, my hand found its way to the glowing sonic cannon.

Suddenly, I was hungry again. My hands violently gripped the edge of the cannon and I felt Cyborg jerk back. Before I could even think, power began flowing through me.

The euphoric frenzy from last night returned.

With vengeance.

Cyborg's attempts became slower and heavier; I had no problem fending myself as I grew more and more exhilarated. The air around us cleared up and I became faintly aware of the fact the other Titans were standing afar observing the finale of our fight, but their presence was only duly noted as I continued to flow and basically brushed away Cyborg's quasi-attacks.

"Okay, you've got me," Cyborg whispered.

I barely even heard him.

Clouds of euphoria covered my eyes and I held on only tighter. The flow increased accordingly.

"Okay, he's been had!" a voice suddenly screamed through the clouds.

The world violently reappeared around me as a spasm ripped through my back and I sharply fell into a sitting position on the floor. I was panting almost as much as Cyborg.

I turned and saw a look three faces of concern.

Robin wore the only stone-faced angry expression.

—

Cyborg reclined slightly in a state of homeostatic rest. I sat on a stool beside his charging bed and simply observed his peaceful slumber. It would be nice to think I was here, waiting patiently to assure myself that everything was fine, but the real reason I stayed in the room was that I wanted to avoid conversations with the other Titans. What exactly do you say to a team after you almost send one of their members into a coma? I couldn't just go to my room like a little girl either, so I chose the noble path to seem like I was really remorseful for what had happened.

I stopped fidgeting.

Am I?

Am I actually remorseful?

Do I even know?

Do I _feel_ anything…?

I looked down and had to grab my fingers to stop them from twitching.

…Anything besides edginess?

The bed beside me lightly creaked and I felt movement beside me. Cyborg sat up and rubbed the human part of his head.

"I think I've been had enough to last me a month…"

"Yes, I'm really sorry about that; I had no idea that I was going so deep," I replied nervously.

He waved it off. "Don't worry about it, you just got a little carried away. It happens to the best of us."

For the first time that day, it was my mouth that was open. "You aren't mad that I drained nearly a quarter of your internal battery?"

"You drained a quarter of my battery?" he shouted.

I looked down. "Mmm… yes…"

He smiled. "Don't worry about it, I have plenty of spares laying around in here."

I let out a sigh of relief and started walking backwards toward the door of his room.

"Okei," I answered, "I'm glad to see that you're feeling better… and I… uh… hope you… stay that way…"

The door opened behind me and I stepped through, waving at Cyborg's fatigued figure. The door slid shut and I walked away, completely dumbstruck. He forgave me without a single reprimand? It just didn't make sense. Why wasn't he furious, or at least annoyed? I really hoped he wasn't doing out it of sympathy for the new girl, but I appreciated it uneasily nonetheless.

The open door to the Main Room revealed Starfire in the kitchen. Knowing there was no way I was going to get roped into another request for help or an interview session, I waited for her to turn her back to me, then dove behind the kitchen counters. I heard her gently whistling some sort of tune behind me; it was vibrating directly in my direction. Suddenly, I heard it change slightly, and praying to God that she was facing away, I ran towards the opposite hallway. As I hit the darkness, I turned back to see Starfire's head in a bowl.

Apparently, God had taken my prayer to an extreme length…

The steel hallway seemed eternally long as I walked through, wondering where I could find something of interest. The only room I knew about in this hallway was the evidence room and the computer room Starfire had shown me on her tour. I walked beside countless unmarked traditional doors with handles and wondered what could possibly be behind them. I continued past the computer room and was going to continue when I unexpectedly heard a voice from inside.

The words were indistinguishable until I neared the door. Flattening myself against the wall and crouching, I leaned in to the slightly ajar door from the direction opposite the Main Room.

"You saw what she did to him. How can you deny it?" I could make out Raven's shape in the darkness against the light of the computer screen.

"Cyborg's battery was drained. Nothing to get worked up about." I recognized Robin's voice from beyond the vision that the door allowed me.

"I'm not talking about just the battery." I heard a cough. "I'm talking about what you didn't announce."

I heard Robin take a step forward. "What? That his system was reset? That if he hadn't made a weekly backup last night, he would've been missing a week's worth of information? That we had physically feed him today's memories?"

There was no answer.

A sigh.

"Look, Raven, this an extremely delicate situation: I don't think she did it on purpose, but we didn't exactly know the extent of her abilities."

"I don't think she did either…" A pause. "…and we all know what happens next."

I heard no noise for a minute or so.

What was she implying?

Raven finally spoke up. "We need to be more careful."

Silence.

"I agree, but she has to stay here."

The reaction was instantaneous. "Robin, you know that's a security risk to the team and if you remember at all what happened the last time, you would see tha—"

"—I know what happened last time. But that time, _we_ could have done something to stop her."

The pause after the comment was longer than before. I suddenly felt tremendously uncomfortable.

Raven broke the silence again. "What do you suggest we do?"

"We can't send her off into the City without knowing what she's going to do; we need to keep an eye on her…" A pause. "…and what better place to do that then here in the tower?"

What? I was being quarantined here?

Before I could even sort out my feelings to the situation, I was sweetly interrupted.

WREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

The siren blared in my ears and caught me off balance. I came to sudden realization that I was going to be discovered if I didn't find an escape route. Praying for yet another favor, I jogged two meters in the opposite direction and pressed myself firmly against the wall.

"Titans, trouble!" Robin burst out of the room with a communicator in his palm and Raven followed closely behind by air.

I heaved air back into my lungs and stood shakily relieved for a single moment. This was far from over, but more pressing matters stood at hand.

WREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

The last thing I heard was Robin's voice from far away.

"…and bring an extinguisher!"


	8. Crossbreed I

"I just might have to kill you, Cameron." He smiled and took another drag from his cigarette.

Brief pause.

"First of all, I already told you to stop dicking around," came the reply, "and second, don't call me that... _Garfield_..."

"Sure thing, Cameron... would you prefer Prisoner 234026?"

Cameron stood up. "Pistol or not, I'll deck you right here, right now."

"Lay off, old man." A cough. "...You really need to get away from that kid of yours more often..."

"Got that right."

Down below, people busily bustled about like ants. The two middle-aged men stood at the very edge of the building top staring down at them, fully aware that a single slip would mean a certain death. But they were used to that idea: in their line of work, a slip always meant failure.

There would be no slips this time, however. There were two pairs of eyes to catch errors before they hit. There were two sets of muscle to keep the situation in hand. There were two minds planning the series of events. But one breed.

Cameron grunted. "Alright, let's do this."

Letting out a thick puff of smoke, Garfield flicked the cigarette over the edge and turned face his companion: Cameron was already fastening his costume. Garfield smiled and reached for his helmet; he had had his metallic bodysuit on for nearly half an hour.

They were dressed in less than a minute.

Garfield looked over the edge one more time before walking towards the stair entrance on the rooftop. "Time to start the barbecue."

—

Five stories of flaming happiness.

The tires squealed as the T-Car and the R-Cycle pulled in; Cyborg and Raven slipped out of the front seats and I jumped out of the right back door. We gazed a little bit uncomfortably at the raging fire before us as Starfire and Beast Boy in falcon form drifted in from the midday sky. All six of us stood several meters from the police line and eyed the building in all of its burning glory.

"And they need us because...?" Raven asked dryly.

"I'll go check it out," Robin answered. He quickly jogged over to a group of policemen talking heatedly in a semicircle; the obvious leader of the group was a husky, brown-haired man with a somewhat bushy mustache. Robin approached him from the front and started talking with him. He had a serious look in his eyes and seemed to speak brusquely, with no unnecessary words or sounds, almost looking like he was lecturing Robin. I was wondering exactly what kind of relationship the Titans had with the local law enforcement when a voice intruded on my thoughts.

"So, are you guys gonna rescue them?"

I quickly turned to see a smiling fifteen-year-old.

"The firefighters already went up the first two floors to start helping out in the third and fourth floor," Job said, looking up at the building side, "but there are still people in the top three floors."

I didn't even answer; I was too busy wondering how he had managed to get next to me so quickly.

"What'd he say, Robin?"

I turned from the still-smiling boy without ever responding and rejoined the Titans as Robin began his explanation of the situation to the group. "The firefighters are taking care of the middle floors, but they asked for help with the top levels. The fire is causing major damage to the structural integrity of the office building and they think our abilities would be best suited for the job."

Subtly, I noticed a look of determination arise on the faces of the other Titans. Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, and even Beast Boy seemed strangely serious as they looked off at the burning offices. Their reactions puzzled me: why was this any different from the fights they had any other day of the week? It suddenly occurred to me why the Titans actually wanted to go in and rescue people: there was another side to their "job" I had overlooked. I never realized that there was more to their job than combating criminals and foiling evil plans: what if they actually worked to protect the people? Would anyone who was capable of doing what they were... ever work for just that? No obsession with justice, no desire for revenge, no need for recognition and self-improvement... just to help?

I found myself completely lost in thought when I caught a phrase from Robin. "...And then we'll all meet back here. Everybody get that?"

I had just missed the entire rundown of the situation. Never one to rock the boat, I nodded along with the Titans and watched them for clues as to what we where going to do exactly.

Fortunately, I was lifted in the right direction and before I knew it, I was hovering several meters off the ground and flying towards the flames of the sixth floor.

I looked up and saw Starfire smiling warmly as she carried me by the underarms. "Come friend Mika, there are many men and women in need of our assistance."

Ahead, Beast Boy and Raven quickly flew to the top floor. Their abilities to fly seemingly made them the best candidates for transporting the citizens in the highest level most efficiently. As we neared the windows of the sixth story, I spotted Robin and Cyborg charging over police cars and past roadblocks into the doors of the office building.

"I recommend that you close your eyes and mouth, Mika," Starfire suddenly advised.

Only guessing how she was planning to get in, I obeyed without question. She flung me to her left side and lowered her own head.

_CRASH!_

She led in with her right shoulder and shattered the giant glass window with her back.

When she let me go, I stared at her in wonder. "How did that not tear your backside apart?"

Starfire waved it off—an odd gesture from an alien indeed—and simply replied, "Tamaranian skin is far less permeable than that of humans." She laughed. "It was actually somewhat physically humoring…"

She was Tamaranian.

She was Tamaranian and sharp glass tickled her.

Oh, God…

The walls of the room we had burst into were decorated with family photos and diplomas; the air of the personal office was only slightly warm. Wondering if the fire had even reached this level, I dashed to the only door of the small compartment and threw it open; a blast of heat hit me square in the face forcing me to look away. Starfire floated forward and I saw a long hallway extended before us, with rows of identical doors. Smoke blurred the view past fifteen meters or so, but the intensity of the heat seemed to grow by the second.

My wandering eyes met Starfire's as I surveyed the area.

We had a long way to go…

"Help me!"

—

The green falcon barreled into a cloud of gray smoke where a window used to be and morphed as he passed the threshold. Beast Boy ran into an open lounge area where a growing group of businessmen and women sat in front of two couches on the floor with handkerchiefs over their mouths.

"Raven," he yelled out, "is anyone else over there?"

A black bird of energy burst from a nearby ornate door and smoke spilled out onto the ceiling. The door became encased in black and strained against its hinges. Tearing from the wall, it flew back into the room, and emerged moments later with a coughing man and woman. Raven floated closely behind it, right arm extended and left hand holding her cloak closely to her face.

"Plenty," came her muffled response. The door gently floated to the floor with its two passengers still resting onboard. "We have to get these people out of here faster."

Keeping his head safely under the smoke above, Beast Boy turned towards the fire that completely consumed the faraway wall. "Well, we can't get anywhere near the stairs, the fire's practically growing from there."

Raven stretched out both hands and the door on the floor began glowing. "Looks like were going to have to do this the hard way..."

She motioned a nearby woman to join the other two evacuees aboard the door. Glancing one last time at her companions, the woman crawled to the door and lay down.

"Hold on to the edges tightly," Raven said to all three of her passengers, "this isn't the best way to travel, but it's the only thing we have." She floated towards the gaping hole in the wall and brought the door to a standstill in front of her, floating seven stories off the ground.

Beast Boy walked up behind her with two women in professional attire following him. "Now don't worry, you're in the safest hands possible," he told them, trying to reassure them, "mine."

Neither replied.

Both were too busy staring past him and Raven to the distant street concrete.

The very hard and solid concrete.

"Right," Beast Boy replied to his own comment. "Nobody ever falls for that..."

He jumped out the window past Raven. She flinched slightly and the three straphangers below struggled to keep their hold on the shaken door. Raven glared at Beast Boy as he soared past and floated out the hole and out of the way. He managed a half-smile as his hands morphed into broad wings and his face elongated.

The enormous winged reptile hovered back to the entrance and extended the closed claws of his feet to the standing women on the deck. They tentatively reached out and grabbed hold of the legs. Beast Boy flapped his wings and glided down as two women tightly held on with wrapped arms.

The decent was graceful and his landing conveniently located in a clearing near an ambulance. The women dropped to the floor as he slowly glided to a stop over the clearing and he flapped away to the black door that had reached the ground.

His gorilla feet met the ground and he reached for the door, carefully balancing it so as to not disturb the people on board. With the balance of a jar on an African woman's head, he took them to the ambulance, placed them within the reach of the paramedics, and momentarily transformed back into normal elf form.

"Are they gonna be all right?" he asked, eyeing the oxygen masks that were immediately place over the victims mouths.

"Tough to say," one of the paramedics answered, "they both swallowed a whole lotta amount of smoke and they may have been damaged in the blast."

Beast Boy's right eye twitched slightly.

"But don't worry," the other medic replied, "the City Hospital has plenty of experience with these sort of patients; they'll have no problem with these two and whoever else is stuck up there."

Beast Boy nodded and looked at the burning building. There were still plenty of people left, and the job wasn't about to get any easier.

—

The number three flew past on the burning wall; they had made great time for having sprinted up three flights of stairs under random burning.

"Cyborg," Robin said, as they continued dashing up long staircases to hotter and hotter temperatures, "remember that the police reported the explosions as originating in the stairs, we don't know how stable any of this could be—"

Robin was cut off by two sudden realizations: that Cyborg was no longer next to him and there was no more floor in front of him. A huge section of the staircase that should have led into the fourth floor offices was completely gone, blown off by the explosion of the bomb. Squatting on the only foot that wasn't floating aimlessly in the air, Robin thrust himself across the gap and barely cleared the flames on the other side as he landed on his knees.

Heaving his chest, he turned to his left and saw the smug smile on Cyborg's face.

"And you were planning on telling me... when I hit the second story?"

"No," Cyborg answered, "I just wanted to see if it was possible for anyone to not notice a ridiculously large hole in the middle of a staircase."

Robin stood up and continued walking up the stairs.

"Damn... I was gonna catch you if you fell anyway..." Cyborg grumbled as he followed him up the stairs.

The climb to the next floor was quick and silent. They avoided the outside edge of the stairs where the flames burned most intensely and stuck to the wall. The fifth floor entrance was no better than the previous one: the floor looked perilously weak, the door looked to be nothing but a wall of flames, and the heat forced Cyborg and Robin to squint and look away.

With Robin leading the charge, they ran into the room and almost into a stream of high-powered water.

"Whoa!"

The fireman had to lean completely to the right to stop the stream from blasting them in the face.

"Captain Michaels," Robin said, addressing the fireman as he closed the nozzle with a quick jerk.

"Ah, Robin and the Pussycats have arrived," he replied jokingly, in spite of the raging inferno around him. "I guess our business here is done." With that he turned on the hose and continued to dowse the flames. "The victims have already been evacuated here, go on up stairs to take care of the people who couldn't get out. See if you can't find a way to get them down here; I assume Commissioner Hall already told you the only available ladder we had only reached this far."

"And be careful," he added, "the bombs went off on the staircases of the odd numbered floors, but somehow fires were started in the other floors, too. It's dangerous as hell out there."

"Don't worry, sir," Cyborg answered as he turned and bolted back to staircase, "Dangerous is my middle name." He leaped through the flames of the doorway and started running back up the stairs; Robin soon joined him.

"Cyborg?" he asked.

"... ... Yeah?"

Silence.

"That might have been the lamest superhero line I've _ever_ heard—"

"Shut up, Robin."

—

The door to the fifth floor flew from its hinges as Cyborg rode it to the floor and rolled past; Robin flew in behind him on a grappling line: the missing portion of the stairs in front of the door had done little stop them. The flames growing around them, however, posed a problem.

Cyborg motioned Robin to the right passage of a long line of cubicles. "You go that way," he cried out, "and I'll take the middle path. We'll have to come back for the left cubicles, right now they're are completely blocked by the fire."

"Right. Look for any trapped victims and survivors. We'll meet at the end of the row."

Robin ran from the flames behind him and scavenged the row in front of him: there were two people he could plainly see through the smoke.

"Are you okay?"

The man coughed and looked up as Robin neared him in a crouching run. He nodded and ducked his head without saying anything.

"Follow me, sir, and keep your head down."

Robin sped off the second victim, who was only a couple of meters away, checking the cubicles in between for survivors. He arrived with the man, asked the standard question, and gave the same instructions, but his mind was busy thinking of a way to get both of them out: the stairway was way too unstable to hold them even for a short while.

He looked around furiously, fighting the growing wildfire.

In the next row, Cyborg raced from cubicle to cubicle, looking under desks for anybody that could be rescued.

"Really don't think they had bomb shelter in mind when they built these desks," he muttered to himself. He suddenly stopped and coughed abruptly before resuming his search. His lungs were cybernetically enhanced to maximize nitrogen and oxygen usage and they were far superior to any human lungs, but even _they_ had a limit.

As Cyborg neared the end of the row, he heard a shout from ahead. Behind the clearing smoke, he saw a spectacled man in a business suit crouched underneath a desk, shouting for help.

He raced forward and neared the man. Robin appeared from around the corner with four people behind him. He looked at Cyborg and his eyes widened.

"Cyborg, WAIT!"

Too late.

As Cyborg looked up and heard his warning, his foot went through the black floor.

For a moment, it looked like the ground had swallowed Cyborg's leg and left everything else intact.

Then his entire body fell through.

And chunk of the floor went with him.

Dust and smoke filled the air as the heat from the floor below escaped through the newly created ventilation system.

Robin held back the people behind him and helped up the man who was under the desk. As the smoke slowly cleared from the hole, he peered over and saw Cyborg on top of a large pile of drywall.

"Thanks for smothering the fire there, Mr. Dangerous."

Robin ducked into the hole and saw Captain Michaels laughing under the weight of his firemen's uniform. If weren't for the dust burning his eyes, he would have smiled.

"Hey, Robin." He turned towards Cyborg as he spoke. "I like how you warned me... _as_ I went through the fifth floor."

Robin smiled.

The people came close behind him and prepared to go through the jump through the hole.

"Just rewards, Cyborg. Just rewards."

—

Starfire let the two old men down near the crowd and said something to them. They smiled and replied. From where I was, it sounded like she let out a yelp before she bear-hugged both of them and was pulled off by several embarrassed policemen. Certainly a first in my book...

She flew back up to the ledge in front of me and I herded over two people who were covered in jackets.

"Burned," I mouthed to her. She nodded in understanding and gently grabbed them before floating carefully down towards the ambulance.

"Can't we go any faster?" came a yell behind me. The voice belonged to some man that hadn't stopped yelling since Starfire and I had gathered a growing group near the hallway where Starfire had "opened" another exit. "I really can't die. I need to get off now!"

"Sir," I replied, trying to curb the curtness in my voice, "we are going as fast as possible. We're taking the most severely hurt and elderly people out first."

From behind a line of people, he yelled, "Do you know who I am? I demand that you get me out, now!"

All of a sudden, I felt the people move behind me and out the corner of my eye, I saw him try to move past the people in front of him.

At that point, I'm not sure whether his foot caught on any of the hundreds of pieces of rubble in that corner of the building... or if someone did what everyone else wanted to do and stuck out their foot.

But he tripped.

Straight into my right shoulder.

And over the edge.

I want to say that I reacted instantly...

...But I didn't. For a quarter of a second, I considered just letting him plunge over the edge and enjoying the hearty round of applause that would surely follow.

Then I remembered that there were undoubtedly dozens of cameras recording on the ground floor and only one would have to catch it before a parade of scandal would plague the Titans and certainly terminate my comfortable position in the Tower.

So I grabbed his hands... and went with him.

The weight of the man pulled me forward and forced me onto my stomach. I felt the floor grind against my shirt as I gained forward momentum. Desperate for any anchor, I reached out with my feet and hooked my foot on some part of the wall.

And so I hung, six stories off the floor. Held only by the strength of my legs and weighed down by a man who wouldn't have suffered from two or three years of dieting.

I looked down and saw the rescue ladder several feet below and to my left. There was no way they could help me. At the very bottom I saw Starfire barely arriving to the floor with the burn victims; she hadn't even seen me yet.

The people behind me began panicking.

The man I was holding onto was shouting obscenities and cries of mercy to the world.

And the strain on my legs grew stronger every second.

But I couldn't let go. That's what being a Titan was about, wasn't it? Doing heroic deeds in the face of impossible of adversity or something like that? They helped people expecting certain failure... and still came out victorious?

No. I wasn't going to let this man go for anything. If the Titans could do it day in and day out, then I certainly could, too. If I hadn't been in so much danger, I would have smiled.

At that point, I was too caught up in my own delusions of grandeur to realize I had completely lost my grip on the wall.

So I fell.

I saw the man's face twist into a mask of horror in front of me.

I saw my scarf fly back.

I saw Starfire shouting something into a communicator in her palm.

And I saw a ring of blue fire in my mind.

Doverie Nikto.

The window of the fifth floor passed my head and I continued to plunge.

Suddenly, I heard glass shatter behind me and something tightened around me feet.

I came to full stop and slammed into the wall chest first.

"Tvoyu mat!"

I barely held onto the man's hands as I winced from the pain in my front side. Suddenly, I felt a sharp sting around my ankles as I jerked up and began sliding up the wall like some sort of snake.

I felt my legs go into the wall and then, I was in the building again. My legs were wrapped in the tight hold of a cable and Robin walked up to me with a slight grin on his face as he retracted the device in his hands. He didn't stop reeling and I didn't stop sliding until the man I held onto firmly came over the windowsill.

"Glad you could drop in." I stared in complete disbelief, partly because I was still high on the rush of hanging so high above the city and partly because I didn't get the joke.

"God, I'm turning to Beast Boy..." he muttered aloud.

I pulled apart the hold of the cable, stood up, and turned around. "Is that fast enough for you, sir?" He didn't even let out the breath he had been holding since the fall. "I'm glad I could help." I walked away from him... and almost into a hole in the ground. I found myself staring through the floor at Cyborg.

"Glad you could drop in." I made a mental note of asking somebody later what that meant and moved away from the hole.

"I got it down here, Robin," he called out from the pit. "You go up and help out Star and Mika."

A small crowd of seven or eight people gathered near the hole in the floor as Robin nodded in confirmation and backed away.

"We've already swept this floor," he replied, "I think anybody that can be found already was." He turned my direction and waved a hand. "Let's go."

I followed him towards the place where the entry to the stairs should have been; instead, there was just a cauldron of smoke and fire. I had to look away from the heat and rub my eyes to keep from tearing up.

"There's no floor immediately outside the door," he said, "we'll have to jump over to get up." He held a grappling gun. "You need a lift?"

"I'll be okei."

He shrugged and ran straight into the fire. Taking a deep breath, I ran in after him. I leaped into the smoke and peered out from under my arms covering my face. I saw the burnt edge of the floor and landed in a roll.

I stood back up and saw Robin swing up onto a ledge a floor above me. I skipped atop of the railing to my side and jumped for the railing across from it. I kicked off and reached for the next railing on the opposite side. Feeling the metal get hotter in my hands, I quickly pulled my self up and flipped next to Robin.

We ran in through the burning threshold and moved from the smoke that covered the entrance. On the far end covered in smoke but safe for the fire, Starfire reached grabbed two people by the hand and flew away.

I ran past the long row of offices, quickly checking for any remaining victims in the rooms; it looked like all of the people left were crowding around the makeshift emergency exit.

"Have all of the rooms been checked?" I asked the person in the very back of the crowd, a small, bald man who was thankfully calm under the circumstances.

"Yes, ma'am." _Ma'am?_ "Some of us got together and went back to look for anyone that needed help." He pointed at the crowd in front of him. "These are all the people we could find."

"You did a great job." Robin stepped up behind me. "The Titan's appreciate your help."

In spite of the heavy smoke, the man smiled.

"Robin," came Starfire's voice from outside the hole in the wall. She appeared with a gust of wind and leaned on the wall while she continued. "I am near completion of the evacuating of this floor; I should finish in several minutes." She took a quick breath and stood straight up. "Although, unbridled joy is somewhat hard to maintain when one's eyes are blinding by sheets of smoke."

"Thanks, Star. Mika and I will help you take care of the last few so we can get out before this place burns to the ground."

Starfire picked up two full-grown men by their hands and hoisted them up in the air. "Thank you Robin, your confidence is reassuring, but I believe Raven and Beast Boy have a large crowd that has not grown smaller since we began the operation."

"Right. We'll get right on it," he yelled out the hole and backed away. He started talking again as he turned around. "Looks like we'll be going upstairs again, Mika. Sure you don't need a—"

He stopped after seeing me standing on the desk a couple meters away. I had an oblong trophy in both of my hands. And I was jamming straight into the ceiling. Needless to say, he guessed what was coming next.

I ducked under the desk as the explosion blew a nice chunk right out of the ceiling. The smoke near the ceiling immediately poured into the opening and for a moment, the air was almost breathable.

"You realize you could have brought down the entire seventh floor on our heads, right?" Robin asked as he brushed off some rubble from his shoulder. "Our heads and the heads of the people still trapped inside here."

I looked away. "I knew it wasn't going to be a big explosion... and we needed a safe way up," I replied uncomfortably. "There was no danger of an accident."

"No danger... like in the training session?" His question stung me. I looked away and realized that I must not have seemed like the most reliable fighter. I had no idea how to answer.

So I didn't.

Robin jumped up to the hole and I pull myself up onto the floor after jumping from the desk after him.

The entire right half of the room was ablaze.

We headed towards the only bearable location and found a crowd of twenty to thirty people crouching near the exit. Beast Boy flew in suddenly and extended his claws to the nearest man and woman. His enormous dinosaur figure saw us through the smoke, gave us a nod of recognition, and glided down to the earth below past Raven, who was lowering a small group in a black orb.

"Alright! Everybody from you," Robin said, pointing to a man in the middle of the huddle, "to you: come with us. Everybody else: stay down and wait patiently. You're almost out."

The crowd followed us as we ran in a crouch back to the hole I had made into the floor; I passed through and stepped back as Robin did the same. Realizing we still needed a way out, I reached into my side satchel for only one or two metal spheres; barely enough to make a couple cracks in the ground. Nothing that could ever cause a—

"Allow me."

Robin held his hand out towards me and with the other, threw down a disk away from the hole in the ceiling; the disk dug into the floor and stayed there.

**RUMBLE.**

The floor shook slightly.

**RUMBLE.**

It shook again.

**RUMBLE.**

And again.

Then it stayed perfectly still.

"Sonic vibrations." The area around the disk slowly crumbled down until a large gap was in its place. "Does the job without the damage, and warns the people below."

I didn't even stop to consider whether he was angry with me or trying to teach me a lesson; the environment was less than friendly at the moment and I refused to be distracted.

And I had no decent comebacks.

A pair of clothed legs appeared from the hole above us. Jumping back into action, I ran to a steel desk to move it towards the legs. After heaving against it for several seconds, it slowly began moving towards the hole in the ceiling until it finally arrived.

As Robin slipped down into the hole in the floor, I leaped up to the desk and started helping people down onto it. One by one, they slipped from the ceiling onto the desk, and down through the floor, where Robin showed them to the hole where Cyborg waited.

Person after person slipped down through the hole. All of them wore similar suits; all of them wore the same expression of helplessness on their coughing faces. All of them followed our directions explicitly. All of them trusted us with their lives.

"Last one."

All of them exited safely.

"Watch your head." The last woman from the sixth floor dropped down to Robin. I heard some quick shuffling then saw him leap through the hole onto the fifth story with me.

"We're through down here. Raven and Beast Boy should be almost done." He flipped open his communicator and pressed a button on the side. "Raven, what's your status?"

Static.

"Raven?"

Static.

"Raven?"

A click. "_What?_"

"What's going on—"

—

"—_up there?_"

"We're just finishing up with the last couple of people." Raven moved her chin from the small emblem on her cloak that acted as a communicator and looked back at the group of people suspended four stories off the ground. "Whatever happened to patience as a virtue...?" she muttered to herself.

She lowered her hands in time with the black orb and released the container as it touched the ground. "Only so many things I can do with two hands..." She turned and faced the few that remained.

The communicator spoke up again. "_We're coming up to help._"

"Only ten people left." Beast Boy said from behind her into his communicator, panting. "How exactly are you planning to help?"

Raven turned back to the group and talked over her shoulder. "Forget it, Beast Boy: with some people, the path of least resistance is sometimes the wisest."

He stared at her with his mouth open.

She sighed. "Just don't say anything to him."

"But why would—"

His question was cut off by the collapse of the roof.

—

**BOOM.**

Above us, the walls rocked violently and I lurched forward to steady myself on a nearby pile of debris.

Robin appeared in front of me. "Damn it." He took off towards the hole in the roof and I followed closely behind.

I emerged behind him and saw an enormous pile of rock where half of the room should have been. Smoke poured out of every crevice and the flames completely consumed the mass.

"Beast Boy! Raven!" He yelled into the communicator in his hand. "Where are you?"

"Dude, right behind you."

I turned and saw Beast Boy and Raven calmly standing with a gathering of businessmen and women.

Robin sheepishly responded with a mumbled acknowledgement. "Good..." He coughed and continued talking. "Well, how many people are left up here?"

"We've got about ten," Beast Boy yelled over the fire.

"I can carry eight of them..." Raven added wearily.

"...And I can carry the last two," Beast Boy finished.

The smoke billowed above our heads and out the window and the angry grumble of the fire filled the silence in the conversation.

"Okay," Robin shouted. "I guess we're done here."

He turned and jumped down the hole in the floor. Raven and Beast Boy moved their attention to the small crowd in front of them and got ready to take down the last people. I slowly back away and followed after Robin. Apparently this family had it's own share of friction.

"_...they all got evacuated safely, but the fifth floor's completely burned. There's no way you could even get onto it. The firefighters pulled out from the inside and got their hands on a hose for the top floors._"

Robin spoke as I caught up to him. "Thanks, Cyborg. Guess we'll just have to do things the old-fashioned way." He closed the communicator and ran towards the exit to the stairs.

"I don't this'll bother you too much will it, Mika?"

I struggled to keep up with his speed. God, he was fast. "Why would it?"

He jumped through the door and ran right over the edge. I followed without a second's hesitation.

The fire formed a ring around the winding staircase as we dropped over; most the stairs were charred and emitted unbearable heat.

The roar of the fire dulled all the sounds in the staircase as we plummeted towards the bottom headfirst.

Except one.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLP!"

The voice flew by and I scrambled in the air to get a hold on something to look back up.

A twisted, black pole appeared to my rescue. I grabbed it and flew onto the hot stairs of the fourth floor. Looking back, I saw Robin's grappling hook flying up towards me.

A thundering sound came from above.

Suddenly, an entire set of flaming stairs tore through the air in front of me. The line was hit mid-air. I looked down and saw Robin land and avoid the crash of the falling debris.

"I can get her!" I shouted down.

I couldn't hear Robin's response or even tell if he had heard me.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLP MEEEEEEEEEE!"

No time for minor things like sanity.

I leaped for the floor above me and pulled myself onto the scalding metal stair.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" The woman stood before me in absolute tears; her voice was hoarse, probably from yelling. Her cleaning uniform was covered in ash and she looked like she had been dragged through Hell. I put my arm around her and pulled her towards the edge of the platform.

"Missus, we have to get out of here, right now. I need you to hold tightly onto me." She reached out and bear hugged me from the side. Well, at least she was obedient...

I eyed the stairs I had climbed up from and dropped down carefully. The floor met me with a hollow thud and I fought to regain the balance of myself and the woman next to me.

Only three more floors to go.

The stairs to the third floor thankfully had remained intact and I ran down them as I half-carried the woman on my side. A hole covered the entrance to the third floor and I delicately dropped through to the second. The fire had spread all the way down to the bottom, and I made the last desperate jump to the first floor.

I connected with the ground and collapse with the woman. She stood up and I used her for support as I got up and ran beside her. We burst through the emergency exit doors and, surprisingly, into fresh air.

I walked over to the nearby ambulance and handed the woman over.

"Thank you, we'll take care of her from here." The paramedics ushered her into the backseat of the ambulance and started their standard procedure of tests.

I stood, inhaling the cleanest air I had tasted in what seemed like hours. The sun above me was about halfway down, and I guessed it was actually beginning to get late into the evening.

"You guys did a pretty good job."

I turned and saw Job walking up to me. He got next to me and, surprisingly, walked right past.

"Oh, and um uh—" He walked backwards as he neared the ambulance. "Thanks for saving my mom."

I watched him until he got into the ambulance. Helping just to help...

"Nice job there, rookie." I turned and saw the Titans walk up behind me. Cyborg spoke again. "Another run-of-the-mill life-changing experience, eh?"

"Yes, I guess it was..." I looked back up to the building. The seventh floor had completely collapsed, but the fires on the other two floors had more than subsided. "I guess it was."

"Nice going, everybody," Robin announced as he looked at the building as well. "Things could have been a lot worse than they were. But we managed to—"

WRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

A firetruck sped away in the distance.

Robin stopped his speech and turned in the direction of the siren. Numerous policemen ran past us towards their cars parked a little ways off.

"Commissioner Hall," Robin shouted to a man who ran past. The man paused slightly, then turned back to us. "What's going on?"

"Another fire's been reported ten blocks south of here." He continued running and yelled over his shoulder. "You'd do best to get there first!"

Robin spun around towards the rest of the team. "Titans."

Beast Boy and Starfire had already taken off.

Cyborg, Raven, and I ran towards the T-Car and Robin sprinted off to his motorcycle hidden in some nearby bushes.

The smell of burned rubber filled the air in less than ten seconds.

We weaved through the traffic without braking or even slowing down. Cyborg piloted the vehicle like sports car as we raced around people who saw us for less than a moment.

Faint smoke trailed in the air only a couple of city blocks away and grew darker every moment.

We sped through and intersection and narrowly missed hitting a cement truck.

"Um... Getting there in one piece would be nice?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Raven," Cyborg answered, "I didn't mean to upset you." A huge line of dead traffic extended in front of us. "Would this make you fell all better-wetter?"

The car suddenly swerved into oncoming traffic.

From behind I could see Raven maintaining a chokehold on the seat below her. I wasn't doing much better than her. I held onto the seat beat around me like it was my last glimmering hope of salvation.

"Tell me if anything gets scawy, ok?"

"I swear, Cyborg, if we get out of this alive I'll make what's still human of you suffer."

The shine of the sun on a windshield speed past us.

"Eh... I can live with that..."

The car spun around a corner and stopped in front of an apartment building. I jumped out and felt the stillness of the ground below me. Somehow, I thought walking home would be the best choice after this...

We joined Starfire and Beast Boy as the stood in front of the building. Robin ran up behind us and started yelling out instructions. "Alright, I found out there's only two floors on this one. They still don't have a clue as to whether this arson case is related to the offices we just saved, but this building's been abandoned for weeks. No one should... even... be... here..."

Eventually he saw the same thing the other five of us had been looking at. Or rather, the things. Two human figures stood atop the building.

Neither looked to be in distress.

Both looked serious.

One wore a metallic silver suit with matching wings. Dark red capsules covered the area where his eyes would have been and a mask completed his outfit. A compact handgun laid at his thigh with his fingers resting delicately over it. A utility belt with gray capsules covered his waist.

His partner stood beside in a strange costume: small antenna sprouted from his crazed insect-looking mask. Fangs grew from his mouth, claws adorned the tips of his fingers, and his torso was covered in a soft, fuzzy material. A whip lay coiled at his side.

The second one took a step forward.

"Welcome, Titans," he bellowed, "to the main event. The last building was just a warm up."

We kept staring.

"This time," he said as his partner and he jumped from the building top, "we play for keeps."

"Get ready Titans," added his partner. "Get ready for Killer Moth and Firefly."


	9. Crossbreed II

I almost laughed aloud.

The idea of villains naming themselves after insects struck me as extremely funny. I thought maybe it was a joke or a pet name or something, but the Titans remained deadly serious during the minor monologue so I was forced to keep my laughter to myself.

They dropped onto the pavement only a couple meters in front of us. They cast their glance up and seemed somehow to smile tauntingly from behind their masks.

Robin stepped ahead and spoke to the two criminals. "You two burned the offices downtown, didn't you?"

The crazed, fuzzy one scoffed and pointed to his associate. "I can't take credit for that. That was straight from Firefly's hands."

"It was my pleasure." Firefly raised his hands to calm the imaginary audience around him.

Robin reached into his belt. "If setting fire to unsuspecting innocent people is your idea of pleasure, then you're one sick man."

His disk zipped through the air as Firefly continued motioning to the invisible crowd.

_SNAP._

The sting of Killer Moth's whip lashed it down before it even neared Firefly's back.

"Put away your toys, Kids. You're gonna need a whole lot more than that to stay in the same arena with us." He snarled and extended his whip to its full length on the floor next to him.

Cyborg stepped up next to Robin. "What're you trying to pull here?"

You could almost see Firefly's grin through his mask as he shrugged. "What? Two villains can't have rampages of purpose-free destruction these days?"

"Whatever the purpose of your plot," Starfire ventured, "it will not succeed, and we will certainly not allow you to harm another of Silkie's kindred."

I could have sworn I saw Beast Boy and Raven crack a smile next to me. Another mental note…

"Don't waste your time worrying about that worm," Killer Moth replied, "M319 was just a primitive prototype, an experiment. But his blood was destined for bigger and better things."

He lashed the whip threw the air above him.

"I've reached beyond the limitations of his evolution. I've harnessed the power of a completely different breed altogether and crossed into something much… hotter?"

We followed his gaze and saw the barrel of Firefly's gun aimed straight at us.

"Titans, scatter!"

The stream of flames blazed straight towards us. Robin tackled Starfire to the right. Cyborg and Beast Boy dodged left. And I… found myself suddenly staring at the tip of a massive tongue of fire. The flames had come too quickly for me to try to duck out of the way. Then, with remarkable timing, I wondered whether a person felt cold when she burned to death: I remembered reading that when a person was about to freeze, she suddenly felt extremely warm and tender. Did people burning in a blazing pyre get numb and chilly?

The air enveloped me in a shroud of darkness.

I found myself suddenly looking at the same wave of flames rushing away to the left a meter or so away. A blue cloak came off my shoulders.

I faced Raven behind me with surprise. "Spasi—er, uh—thank you."

She nodded while her eyes scanned above; I looked back and saw that the criminal duo had taken to the skies. I rushed forward and joined the Titans as they regrouped.

"You're really going to need to try harder if you want to keep up with the likes of us," Killer Moth shouted from above us. With the taunt still hanging in the air, they spun around and darted down the road.

"We can't let them get away!"

Feeling a déjà vu, I ran back to the car and slammed the door behind me. Robin again sped past on his motorcycle and Beast Boy and Starfire took to the skies. As I saw them flying, I suddenly wondered exactly how they did it. At some point, beating wings constantly and concentrating on soaring must have gotten tiring; how did they manage to not drop from the sky like overworked flies all the time?

_BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!_

The sound of a car horn flew right past my window and threw me back in shock.

"I swear I'll find a way to make your machine parts suffer, too."

"Don't worry about it, Raven." Cyborg swiveled to the side in his seat and faced her completely. "I could drive this thing with my eyes closed."

We sped through the street—on the right side for once—and suddenly I realized that flying through exhaustion might not be such a bad situation…

Above us, Killer Moth and Firefly zipped through the evening sky. The small stream of smoke from Firefly's jet pack rose through the air and gave us a perfect trail to follow against the early sunset air burning with smeared scarlet and violet hues. In the occasional gaps between the buildings surrounding us, I spotted faraway columns of smoke catching the wind.

"…_the firemen already reassured us that there was nobody in there. No cleaning staff, no workers, no victims. The second fire was just a sabotage to get our attention._"

"Good. One less thing to hang in the back of our heads while racing around the City," Cyborg replied from the driver's seat.

We had left two scenes of devastation in only a matter of minutes; we had switched from a mission of rescue to a mission of capture in less time. It was interesting how quickly the Titans morphed from one mindset to the other; it didn't seem mechanical, as if part of their training, but rather, like it was part of their personality.

Innocent gazes of unsuspecting customers interrupted my thoughts.

Ahead and above, Firefly and Killer Moth shot towards each other as if they were going to collide at the street intersection but flew past at the last moment. They crossed paths midair: Killer Moth shot off to the left at the intersection and Firefly dove to the right. The T-Car raced towards the T-junction at full speed, while the innocent patrons at the bank we were barreling towards watched in growing concern.

Robin beeped in on the communicator. "_Cyborg, you take the car after Killer Moth. Star, me, and Beast Boy—_"

A faint voice sounded in the background and Robin continued. 

"—_Star, Beast Boy, and **I** will go right. If they don't try to meet back up, communicate with us when you capture him._"

"Gotcha."

Cyborg gripped the wheel even harder than Raven was squeezing her seat and threw the car into a sharp left turn at the intersection we had already started crossing.

To say we skid would be an understatement.

To say we spun wildly would be a joke.

To say I saw my life—and seven or eight headlights—flash before my eyes repeatedly would be a little more honesty than I could comfortably manage.

"I suppose waiting for the truck in front of us and slowing down temporarily was completely out of the question," Raven deadpanned.

"Ain't got time for that, Raven. I got people to see, criminals to catch, speed limits to laugh at."

"There won't be much laughter," she answered, "if we ended up as a gigantic mural of internal organs on the street."

We swerved around a slow-moving Porsche.

"Point taken."

—

For a second, the R-Cycle hung higher in the air than either Starfire or Beast Boy; the wheels spun madly, trying to grip a road that was far under it. In the same time it had taken to jump off the ramp, Robin was back on the ground, having cleared a pit of flames in the road.

Firefly dashed through the air several yards ahead, constantly turning looking back to his three pursuers.

"Based on your reputation, I had really come to expect something more impressive," he shouted to the Titans.

A volley of starbolts answered him, but despite Starfire's tries, he nimbly avoided all of them.

"I guess I expected too much!" Without hesitation, he whipped the gun from its holster and shot directly at her without even looking back.

Starfire's eyes widened; she jerked right to avoid the stream of flames and suddenly found herself fighting to fly through the maze of streets signs, banners, and building extensions over the sidewalk.

Continuing the assault, Beast Boy dove in from the left, claws outstretched and waiting to blindside the crook. Just as his talons reached the flying fugitive, Firefly twitched left and dropped clear out of the sky. He pivoted in his sudden descent and faced the surprised Beast Boy, who suddenly found himself holding only a small black sphere. He didn't even have enough time to blink: the blast sent him flying over the left lane of traffic and into a line of bushes.

Firefly's jetpack burst to life two feet from the road and he bolted away through evening traffic as the R-Cycle raced behind.

Robin leaned forward on his bike and narrowed his eyes on the fleeing figure ahead of him. "You can't get off the hook that easily." He gripped the handles tighter and weaved through the cars to catch up.

Car horns honked furiously around him as he passed up car after car and neared the villain. "Civilians..." he muttered.

Firefly, turning and suddenly becoming aware of his close proximity, immediately grabbed for his gun. Robin had a birdarang out before it was completely drawn.

It tore through air and caught him in the shoulder. Firefly indignantly turned and grabbed the cut as he continued jetting backwards.

Robin glared through his helmet. "Don't underestimate us!"

Firefly raised the handgun and began to throw his own taunt back when his legs suddenly hit the roof of a car. He flipped around wildly and barely managed to thrust over the cars in front.

"That's enough playtime for one day." He pulled out a black sphere and threw it at the R-Cycle. The hiss of the sphere grew louder as it neared Robin and the cars of innocent people around him in a perfect arc through the air.

Green lasers saved the day.

Starfire and Beast Boy flew above the R-Cycle, unscathed and gaining on the fleeing criminal. Starfire fired blast after blast of green beams from her eyes as Beast Boy flew in close for aerial hand-to-hand. He reached Firefly and clawed away with talon and wing while the criminal dodged and blocked his way over ongoing traffic.

Starfire narrowed her eyes and prepared another concentrated round of beams when she was abruptly interrupted. "Starfire, wait!" Robin yelled over the din of motors.

"There's too much risk if you keep using the beams in crowded traffic." He paused slightly and continued shouting. "Get in close for a sec, I'll take care of the rest."

"I understand." She looked back towards the struggle ahead and dived in without hesitation.

"Too many cars, too many cars..." The R-Cycle sped behind the aerial battle while continuing to weave in and out of the sluggish evening traffic; Robin stared at the fight intensely as plans raced through his mind at the same speed as his bike. He looked down at his communicator and searched for a specific frequency.

Starfire swung a speeding fist at Firefly's head. He narrowly missed having his skull dented as he arched his back kicked to counter the blow. With several years of aerial experience, Starfire easily blocked the leg and swung again. Firefly's second duck was met by the kick of a kangaroo in midair. Beast Boy rapidly morphed to a large winged reptile and followed Firefly as he sailed over the cars past another street intersection.

The arsonist regained his balance and reached for his pistol. He hesitated one second as he did, then apparently reconsidered and continued his evasion.

Beast Boy and Starfire continued a barrage of close-range attacks to his fleeing back as the R-Cycle stealthily crept beside Firefly's flight path over the right hand lane of traffic into another intersection.

Amidst the furor of battle, Starfire and Beast Boy reached down for their resounding communicators and listened as Robin hollered out instructions. They nodded their head in visual agreement.

Firefly looked back at his pursuers, eager to unleash another round of fiery mayhem. Suddenly, Beast Boy and Starfire dropped down and back from his line of sight and the R-Cycle roared into flight from the right into the middle of the intersection; Robin sat on the seat of the bike with three birdarangs in his hand and a smile on his face.

Firefly froze in the air and bolted into a left hand turn.

The R-Cycle landed in a short skid and safely resumed the chase as Beast Boy and Starfire rejoined Robin.

"And now," Robin relayed over the communicators, "we bring him down."

The three Titans trailed the criminal tightly, curiously noticing the complete absence of cars from the road.

"Robin, where have all the ground vehicles gone?" Starfire asked in confusion through the communicator.

"I had someone do us a small favor."

The chase reached a clearing in the buildings of downtown and the world clicked into place.

"FREEZE!"

Two small rows of policemen emerged from behind an inconspicuous building on the street and roadblocks emerged into place at the blocked off end of the street several yards away. A loud gunshot rang out and, without further warning, Firefly was in the middle of the street, wrapped tightly in a net.

"Remove all weapons and slowly slide them over in our direction!" Commissioner Hall stood behind a large megaphone, with the city police lined in front of him.

Firefly struggled furiously against the ropes as his hands remained tangled in a heavy mess of titanium rope.

Beast Boy and Starfire landed next to the R-Cycle and joined Robin on the advance towards the captured criminal.

"REPEAT: Slide ALL weapons on floor toward the nearest police!"

Firefly stopped thrashing and lay absolutely still.

"Give it up," Beast Boy yelled to him, "we got you pinned like a creepy science fair project."

"You know," Firefly said, suddenly speaking very calmly, "I've got something to say, but I really don't think you're gonna like it."

The Titans stopped.

Robin muttered to the other two. "Watch his movements... He's trying something..."

"It's actually incredibly hackneyed..."

He looked back towards the shouts from the police line.

"ALL weapons toward the POLICE!"

"And I really think you guys are gonna blow a fuse when you hear this one..."

"It's over, Fly. Just give in."

"I mean, you just might wanna shot me after it..."

The Titans slowly edged closer, ever watchful of his hands and weapons.

"...I know _I_ would wanna char your carcass if you pulled it on me..."

Starfire, Robin, and Beast Boy arrived to a distance as far away from Firefly as the reluctantly approaching police officers were.

"Alright, alright," he yelled to the air, "I'll tell you already. Unlike my associate, I can't stand a begging bratty teenager, so here it is..."

Firefly held up his hands to the air and gave a fierce glance through his metallic mask to the three Titans.

"Two heads are _always_ better than one."

Dead silence.

Robin's eyes widened.

His communicator whipped out of it's holding pocket.

"Cyborg!" He yelled. "Where's Killer Moth?"

The answer came from Above.

"Two steps ahead of you, Titans."

Killer Moth swooped in from behind the unsuspecting back of the police lines, leaving a trail of tear gas in his path. Razor-sharp claws tore through the net that covered Firefly's outstretched hands and left him completely liberated of his entanglement.

Firefly stood straight up and leaped into the air as Killer Moth took off into the buildings behind. He looked down at the Titans as they ran forward.

"Can't say I didn't warn you." He rocketed away towards the setting sun.

A black streetlamp swung belatedly, hit empty air, and dragged through the ground and into a pond by the side of the road. The T-Car swerved into view and braked before Cyborg's head popped out a window.

"Did _anybody_ know he could fly that fast?" he shouted.

Did anybody know he could fly at all?

I didn't.

A green hawk shot past my face.

"Don't let them escape!" Robin's instructions echoed through the neighborhood.

A trail of gas rose from far away and I saw a group of policemen stumble out from behind a store, coughing and rubbing their eyes. I never realized exactly how much the local law enforcement did to make the Titans' job easier. Presumably… nothing.

The car raced forward and we fought to follow Beast Boy's fleeting trail. It was almost as hard as following Killer Moth's erratic patterns across the city. The psychotic bug had led us through so many one-way streets, incoming traffic, and restricted lots that we spent more time breaking traffic laws then following them. What I couldn't believe was the way the Titans were handling the situation: Cyborg and Raven—beneath her cynical pseudo-fear—were watching the situation unfold with relative calmness and acceptance; it was like they arose this morning—and every morning—expecting to break traffic laws, pursue unpredictable crooks, and formulate insane plans on the battlefield. I was familiar with adaptation during combat, but they brought completely new meaning to the word "flexibility."

Where was the structure? Where was the plan? Where was the _purpose_ of the mission?

"There's a broken lamppost."

Apparently, the same place as the weapons…

A black shadow overtook the lamppost and it gravitated to a spot above the car, where it hovered along smoothly for a ride.

…in the trash.

—

Two large metal tanks sat against the back wall of a massive building facing an empty lot; the growing evening darkness slowly pulled their shadows over the world as the sun vanished from existence. Two sets of heavy boots landed with a crunch on the dirty concrete floor. Everything was clear and set; the world was in place and the game could properly begin.

"Dang it, Cameron. I'm really _am_ gonna have to kill them."

"Calm down, Garfield. We can't get rid of them just yet; the plan needs them slightly longer."

Brief pause.

"Guess there's not enough time for a smoke, either…"

Silence.

"… … Just get ready."

—

The horizontal swipe of an incoming lamppost forced Killer Moth and Firefly to the ground. It tore the air above them and left them ducking for the safety of their heads.

The T-Car swerved to halt into the empty space of the lot.

"Titans," Firefly said, standing from his crouch, "glad you caught up..."

We emerged from the T-Car.

"...but aren't you missing a member or two?"

"No," Cyborg answered confidently, "we're all here."

The R-Cycle ripped through the air from the left and came to an abrupt halt before the two criminal duo. Robin jumped off the bike and crouched into a defensive position just as Beast Boy and Starfire touched down on the other side of the villains.

"The chase is over, you're going nowhere but jail."

"That's where you're wrong," Killer Moth answered, "we're going somewhere: straight to the top, and there's nothing you can do to stop us."

"As a matter of fact," Firefly continued with smug condescension, "you're going to help us."

"And why the hell would we ever do that?"

"It's simple really," Firefly answered. He turned towards his partner. "Killer Moth?"

"At this moment, there are seven nests spread out over the city. They are well hidden, undetectable to the human eye, and filled to the brim..." He seemed to smile through his mask. "...with genetically enhanced pyromoths that will destroy the city with simple ease."

The sun had nearly finished setting behind them. Dead silence rampaged around us as everyone processed the information.

"You've been planning this for so long," Beast Boy commented, shattering the silence, "and 'pyromoth' was the best name you could come up with?"

"You're lying," Robin challenged, apparently not hearing Beast Boy's equally interesting contention.

"Us? Lying?" Firefly turned to his associate in mock anguish. "Moth, I'm insulted."

"Then I guess they'll need a demonstration."

Killer Moth raised his right hand from behind his back and revealed a small control pad with a red button. Needless to say, the button was pressed.

Nothing happened. It has been my experience that usually when big red buttons are pressed, explosively imminent danger occurs: something dangerous activates, someplace blows up, somebody gets impaled, anything... but nothing seemed to react with that button.

Until we heard the noise.

It was like an electric fan that had been turned on too long; the dull buzz crept from the ground beneath us and gave off a numbing vibration. I looked around to the Titans, trying to find a look of recognition on at least one of their faces.

I found none. This was not, apparently, part of the "flexibility" of their day-to-day crimefighting...

The humming intensified exponentially. The sound reached a maddening pace and I sensed the Titans shifting uncomfortably around me: Robin and Cyborg seemed to be communicating through hurriedly looks, Raven loosely held her hands to her side and bowed her head slightly with her eyes closed, Beast Boy scanned the floor frantically for the source of the movement, and Starfire searched the meager surroundings with an oddly hopeful look on her face. Killer Moth and Firefly stood motionless in front of us, silent.

And I grew more aggravated by the sound every second.

Without warning, the sound peaked and four balls of flames burst like activated landmines from scattered locations before us. Within the flames, I could make the most repulsively abhorrently disfigured creatures I had ever seen in all the years of my life. Thankfully, all four began their attacks before I could properly register their grotesque features in my mind.

The first little bugger opened his jaws and dove straight towards Cyborg. His arm cannon was ready as soon as he saw it, and his shots followed a split second later. The pyromoth spun silently around each cannon shot and continued diving with the grace and ferocity of a burning meteor. He ducked desperately and scarcely missed having his head replaced with a burning insect.

"Watch out for their suicide dives!" he called out to the rest of us.

Two more dove at us simultaneously. The first decided to make me a human pyre and guided its mad nosedive directly towards my position; a second one flew directly behind it and jerked away suddenly to target Robin. I reacted with several metal spheres and enough juice to power a small car; Robin's disks cut through the air, moments ahead of my own attack. The pyromoths spread their jagged mandibles and I suddenly imagined a screech more annoying then the buzz of their wings shearing the night ambiance.

Fortunately, they only unleashed blasts of fire.

The columns of heat tore our weapons from the air and barreled their way towards us. We leaped in opposite directions as Raven raised a black shield and Starfire countered with a stream of starbolts.

Above, Beast Boy terrorized a lone pyromoth with his gargantuan reptilian figure of flying destruction. They zipped through the air, frantically pivoting to outdo the other with agility. Beast Boy turned quickly at one point and gained a direct advantage over the moth; with a smile only a winged dinosaur could manage, he closed in and extended his talons to bring down the waning threat.

A delicate metallic whine pierced the air instantly and suddenly Beast Boy was covered in red... stuff.

The three pyromoths that had been circling above and launching small flames toward us were likewise no more. Instead, red goo covered the ground around us.

Beast Boy landed quickly in front of me with a look of utter disgust. "Oh please, not again," he muttered exasperatedly as he wiped gunk from his uniform.

I could only imagine what he meant.

Killer Moth's laugh brought our attention back to the situation. "As you may have noticed, Titans," he began saying, "they're quick, powerful, easily deployable..." He looked at the massive coat of red slime that covered Beast Boy's body. "...and disposable."

"Alright," Robin shouted, showing slight impatience, "you two have our attention. What do you want?"

"Now you're listening," Firefly answered with content. "The seven nests have countless more delightful child of our genius. You will concede to our demands or the city will be razed to the ground and devoured by our creations when we unleash them."

He paused minutely, as if to consider exactly how simple the concept really was. "Our demands are neither unreasonable nor impossible: we ask only for twenty million dollars in cash."

Nobody responded to him.

Killer Moth continued. "If you deviate in any way from our instructions, we will unleash the pyromoths. If you involved any authorities further than asking for the money for the city's ransom, we will unleash the pyromoths. If you sneeze suspiciously, we _will_ unleash the pyromoths. So think long and hard before you decide to spring whatever plan may be formulating in your minds right now."

Silence hung in the air.

"If you receive your demands," Cyborg slowly asked, "how can we trust that you disarm the pyromoths?"

"We're criminals," Firefly answered. "You're _not_ supposed to be able to trust us."

Cyborg clenched his jaw as his right hand slowly morphed into a sonic cannon.

"Cyborg," Starfire ventured quietly, "I believe you should lower your temperature, so as to not provoke the situation into disaster."

"Yeah, Star, yeah. I'll cool down," He grumbled under his breath, "right after I stick my metal foot up Funny Man's..."

"We need more than just hollow words," Raven interrupted in reply. "We need evidence that if your demands are met, the nests will be rendered harmless."

"Sure, whatever makes this easier for you, Titans," Killer Moth replied with a taunting laugh. Firefly reached behind his back and pulled out a small white box. "We will broadcast the self-destruct of all of the pyromoths when the money is verified and all eight nests will be exposed."

"Where would we go if we were to deliver the money?"

Firefly answered without hesitation as he somehow managed to light a cigarette through his mask. "It's exactly eight o'clock right now. In exactly two hours, you will hear from us."

Beast Boy suddenly called out from where he stood. "And what makes you think you can escape from here without us taking you in?"

Firefly pulled out the cigarette and answered nonchalantly. "The simple fact that you're standing on twenty pounds of TNT."

He flicked the cigarette and it landed on a thin smear of oil... that quickly ran ablaze straight towards us.

"Titans, scatter!"

The trail forked out to two large tanks a small distance away and reached them as it entered the hole in the ground under our feet.

And for the third time that day, flames licked the sky in the heat of a furious inferno.


	10. Crossbreed III

"Do you think there was a way we could have done that _without _you almost getting twenty-five to life?"

"Kinda hard to get away from a bunch of nosy brats when you can't even LAY A FINGER on them!"

"Hey! Calm down..." Pause. "Besides, you know the part they play in the second phase."

"But we don't need ALL them! I could've easily picked off the flying pumpkin or the crazy dinosaur kid without hurting the little leader in tights."

Silence.

A sigh. "Hothead... You're going to burn this operation..."

"Sweet mother of—Do you listen to yourself? Why is it that we break out into all these puns whenever we put on the costumes? Why do we sound like cheesy Bond villains?"

"It's all part of the villain image, ok! Chill the hell out and get use to it."

Silence.

"Whatever, I'm going out for a smoke."

—

"They're not getting anything."

He didn't leave any room for arguments.

"Beast Boy is correct," Starfire added, "we cannot surrender to their unreasonable requests and allow them to flee!"

The Titans nodded in agreement.

"I hate crush the spirit," Raven droned from her seat on the couch, "but... how exactly do we gonna stop them then?"

The enthusiasm seemed to die.

"We don't."

All eyes turned to Robin. "If we want to avoid the worst scenarios," he continued, "we have to let them think they're in control. We're going to have to follow the instructions they give us until they slip up and give us something to use against them."

Cyborg voiced our opinion: "So we just give them the money and wait around wondering if anything useful will come up? Assuming we find something even _remotely_ useful, how are we gonna have time to build up any kind of attack to take those two freaks down?"

A momentary pause in the conversation opened a window for me.

"Reconnaissance?" I volunteered, feeling like a child in school.

Robin smirked. "Exactly."

The rest of the Titans gave a questioning look towards Robin, prompting him to further explain. "We need to find those seven nests. If Firefly and Killer Moth are planning to invade with them, then the nests are probably hidden within the city itself. If we can find them, we can keep an upper hand on those two and secure the deal against whatever dirty trick they try."

"We keep the money," Cyborg added thoughtfully, "_and_ catch their blackmailing butts when they try to escape. It's perfect!"

A cough brought our attention back to the wonderfully soft couch.

"Except," Raven flatly replied, "that the city isn't exactly small and there are more than an infinite number of places to hide nests for any type of creature."

"No problem." Cyborg flashed a proud smile. "Those suckers are living torches; I can get the thermal scanners to sweep the entire city for unusual levels of heat and pin them down in no time."

"Yeah, it's not like Killer Moth is the best hider in the world anyway; last time, they were in his own scary basement," Beast Boy said. "He wasn't even smart enough to hide his connection with Kit—"

And suddenly, everyone found something incredibly interesting to gaze at on the floor, on the walls, or on their uniform. The only Titan who didn't suddenly jump into preoccupation was Starfire; she just sat there numbly, not even blinking.

"His, uh, connection with, ummmm, hi-his house," Beast Boy fumbled.

The pungent smell of scandal filled the air and I smiled: there had to be a good story behind _that_ one.

"Well," Beast Boy added again, still straining madly for a decent recovery, "let's get going, we don't have a lot of time. It's like..." He visually counted the bars on a clock that hung on a nearby wall of the Main Room. "...Eight and four lines-o-clock!"

The entire room stared at him.

"You can't tell time?" Raven asked, astounded.

"Wha—? Well... I... It's just not one of the things I picked up on quickly, ok?" he replied.

"We've got an hour and forty minutes left before they contact us," Robin answered, interrupting right on cue, "everybody go get ready for a little moth hunting."

Starfire jumped up from the couch and jet through door towards the bedrooms; Raven slowly stood and walked through the wall in a blurry portal of black energy. Robin muttered something to himself and jogged away in the opposite direction of the others. Beast Boy kept staring at the clock on the wall; he opened his mouth to say something to the rest of the room, but apparently thought better of it and walked towards his room. Cyborg stood staring at a display on the large screen of the Main Room while he inserted a cable into slot in his mid-forearm. Realizing there was nothing I could actually _do_ to "get ready," I decided to find out some information from the lone android.

"Cyborg," I commented casually, "what sort of information does the Titan database hold on these two criminals?"

"The basic rundown," he answered without turning back. "Real names, physical characteristics, criminal records, psychological profiles, living relatives, whatever could possibly help us track them down."

"What data exists on Firefly?"

"Not much really: his real name is Garfield; he was special effects engineer until he went off the deep end and fell into some deep pyromania. I think Robin's met him before, back in his days in Gotham."

I paused thoughtfully, considering the host of phrases that baffled me in his sentence.. "Gotham?"

"A nearby city."

"He led another team?" I suddenly wondered exactly how long Robin had been in the business of "public service."

"No, he lived there under the mentorship of another superhero. The guy is a national hero, an urban legend, a myth among the crimefighters of the world."

"Obaldet..."

"You're tellin' me."

"I guess even training under such a big hero couldn't change his detached manner of dealing with villains."

Cyborg glanced back, partially sharing his concentration from the flashing program on the computer screen. "You kidding? That's how he got that way!"

As he returned to his scan of the city, I stood silently behind him wondering about the type of person that could actually teach a child to be so... unusual. How do you raise someone to hide behind a name and a mask?

I laughed at myself; the same way one would teach them to run and fight and kill and win: get them while they're young.

"Does he ever mention how he got here?" I asked discreetly, expecting the obvious answer that would no doubt follow.

Cyborg shrugged. "He doesn't like to talk about it..."

I nodded only expecting that much.

"...And we don't like to ask."

I looked away sheepishly. "So, hmmmm, how about Killer Moth?" I prompted, finding a quick route to comfortable conversation.

"Real name is Drury Walker. We've had some experience with him before; he held the city hostage like this before with rabid moths."

"How did the Titans avoid his demands then?"

"Well..." He stopped typing for only second before continuing. "...we didn't."

I tried understand what he was saying. "You gave into his demands? How was the money collected?"

Cyborg again visibly struggled to organize his response to my question. "His 'demands' didn't exactly... fall under the category of money the first time around."

I couldn't have been more confused if I tried.

He continued wandering verbally. "He more or less asked for... a favor... in exchange for the city."

"What type of favor did he require exactly?" I inquired, feeling the beginning of something wholly more interesting.

"Mmmmmm... you see, there was this girl, Kitten..."

"Kitten... like a cat?" I asked, befuddled.

"...Yeah. She was a total nutjob and, besides that, she was—_is_—Killer Moth's daughter. And she managed to get Moth to blackmail us into doing what she wanted."

I waited for him to continue the explanation. "And what exactly did she want?" I asked.

Cyborg stared forward until he reached some sort of end. He turned painfully towards me while I witnessed the most amazing display of facial contortions I had ever seen. He visible mulled over his answer for an eternity before finally answering.

"...Robin."

I stood, completely baffled. "Robin?"

"Robin."

Silence.

"As a slave?" He didn't answer. "As a servant? Why would she have the need for a vigilante in her service? Unless she wanted some sort of perverse companionship..."

Cyborg caught my eye with a nod. "Yeah. _That._"

My mouth hung in open awe.

I fell to the floor and burst into laughter. The entire concept of the American romance was ridiculously juvenile as it was, but to have a villain's daughter coercing the leader of the city's crimefighting team into a forced romantic situation was... beyond words.

Cyborg cracked a smile.

"It's really not that funny." His smile grew wider until he was fighting to not laugh. "Star would kill you if she heard you..."

I gradually controlled my breathing and stood from my kneeling position on the floor. "Why would Starfire do that?"

"Do what, friends?"

I turned and saw the alien float in through the door from the dormitory hallway, wearing a new set of her uniform.

"What act is it that I am committing?"

Puzzled, but smart enough to keep my mouth shut, I turned to Cyborg and waited for him to find a way out of whatever hole he had dug. For the third or fourth time in less than ten minutes, he fought to recover his speech.

"Uh, well, it's... your turn to... do the dishes..."

Starfire stood before us as the only person in the tower more confused than I was.

She flashed a smile with closed eyes. "Thank you, friend Cyborg. I shall remember to disinfect the dinnerware immediately following our mission."

"Yeah," Cyborg mumbled, fighting to hide a smile still on his face, "don't mention it..."

"What's the progress on the scanners?" Robin walked back into the room looking no less determined then when he left.

Cyborg glanced back to the monitor.

"Thermal scan's finished." He clicked a button and the large screen before us lit up with a thermal map of the city. Stepping towards it, Cyborg stared with a obvious disappointment. "Crap. I thought this would happen."

"What?" Beast Boy asked as he joined the group. "There's lots of red globs, isn't that what we want?"

"Well yeah, the 'globs' are supposed to show us where and how the heat is concentrated throughout the city," Cyborg answered, "but the places showing up are as hot as they're _supposed_ to be."

"Where you expecting them to hide the nests in a dumpster?" Raven floated silently to a stop beside me.

"No, but—"

"—There obviously going to be hidden," Robin interrupted. "If we want to have the advantage over Firefly and Killer Moth in time, then we're going to _have_ to find those nests as early as possible. To find them in time, we're gonna have to split up and search independently. Cyborg..."

"Right on it," he replied immediately. Cyborg unplugged the cable from his forearm reached his hand out. "I'm going to need everyone's communicators."

Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Robin quickly amounted a small pile in his palm.

"Just a sec..." He plugged in the cable to the bottom of each one for less than ten seconds and handed each one back. "The thermal sweep of the city is on each one the communicators now; you can toggle between the map and communicator at any time."

A general nod of consensus swept the group and I followed the Titans as we started a scavenger hunt we couldn't possibly win.

"Mika." I turned to face a slim, black rectangle with rounded edges.

"Under such short notice, we could only come up with this," Robin explained. "The image of the thermal sweep is uploaded on it, but it only has a single channel. You'll only be able to communicate with me, but I can provide you with any information you need."

I took the mini-communicator and inspected it over as Robin continued. "It's not much but I'm sure it'll do..." He looked me directly in the eye. "For now..."

He took off through the others as I jogged behind towards the elevator.

For now? For _now_? What made him think there was even going to be a _later_?

Feeling an odd sense of ingratitude, I followed to the mission that lay ahead with a single thought in my head...

There was a communicator in my pocket.

—

_**8:47 pm**_

Waves ebbed gently against cement walls. The full moon hung dully in the sky, it's pale rays reflecting off the slow sway of the waters, oblivious to the danger of the city beneath it.

A fin parted the waves and moved silently through the open water along the shoreline. The green marlin sped up as it spotted a forest of wooden beams ahead. It entered the dank cave the dock above it created against the cement wall that marked the end of the sidewalk. The marlin slowed down to a stop and floated quietly in place before diving down.

The surface waters grew calm and absolutely still.

The waves continued silently lapping.

Suddenly, the surface tension broke as the fish shot from the water, morphing into an elf mid-air; Beast Boy kneeled onto the pavement as he landed drenched and dripping. He closed his eyes and shook ferociously like a dog coming inside from a bad storm.

"Smooth, Beast Man, perfectly smooth," he whispered to himself and took out his communicator. "Alrighty, Cyborg said to push the yellow button... or was it blue?"

He stared at the communicator closely and examined each button with great interest.

Then he closed his eyes and pressed one.

He opened them and saw the thermal map displayed on the screen of the communicator. "Black button it is then..."

Beast Boy took a tentative step forward and looked at the surroundings; moonlight shone off of his eyes as he squinted into the night. "If I were a fire-breathing moth, where would I go?"

A step took him towards the edge of the sidewalk overlooking the water; he walked slowly along the edge before falling forward mid-stride. From his former place, a green king cobra slithered forward, slipping over the cement like a stream of water.

The snake glided noiselessly on the pavement, darting his tongue furiously in and out of his mouth as he followed traces of heat. Faint heat reached his sensory organs and drew him forward; the feel of radiating heat intensified as he lurked his way through the nighttime seaside.

The forked tongue shot out like a whip, tasting the warmth of the heated air; weak snake eyes glared blindly into the night, following the direction that his tongue commanded. Gradually, the direct warmth of another source grew on him: a light grew brighter in his eyes and warmer on his cold scales. The snake discreetly wormed its way away from the light until he found himself cold and shaded behind ample cover. Beast Boy morphed from the lowly snake into his normal elven form instantly and observed his surroundings; somehow, he had managed to emerge behind a stacked pile of crates.

Amazingly, a gap in the stack gave him a perfect view of the light source. A lighted area laid before him, occupied by numerous full boxes and several burly dock workers silently carrying the unmarked crates to and from a shipping craft and the warehouse. They wore dark burgundy shirts and worn out jeans; assorted hats covered their heads and each one walked in such a way that his was never visible to anyone who wasn't coming up from the floor beneath them.

He inched forward, narrowing slitted eyes on the muscle work in front of him.

"This doesn't look right," he explained to himself, "what's with these guys?"

He kneeled down below his spying whole and jumped into the air in the form of a hummingbird. His wings beat furiously as he zipped over to the roof of the warehouse above the grunting workers. Beast Boy peered over the edge in normal form and noticed two men off to the side, deep in conversation. He snuck over to the corner of the rooftop and leaned in discreetly.

"—and you're sure that's what they're shipping in?"

"Yup," the older and more experienced looking one of the two answered.

"Why would anybody bring anything like that in? Is that legal?"

"I didn't ask," he answered flatly, "and I don't plan to, either." He looked at the younger man. "People offer you a job working something like this, you don't ask questions, you just do it and leave them to their own dirty business."

Beast Boy's ears pricked up.

"Sure, I just don't want any dirt on my conscious..."

"Kid," the weathered man said, putting down his clipboard and facing his assistant, "in this business, you can't think too much about what passes through. People pay outrageous prices to keep _delicate_ shipments from receiving to much attention. We just carry the boxes and mind our own damn business."

The assistant focused on a far away worker and pretended to be supervising; the look on his face gave away his obvious discomfort and shame in front of the workers.

"Let's keep it moving," he called out to the grunting men, masking his own embarrassment.

High above their heads, Beast Boy leaned back onto his feet. "Something smells kinda fishy..." He stared at the operation below him and kept still for an entire minute.

His gaze finally broke as he looked up into the night sky. "What would Robin do?" he mumbled aloud.

He looked down at the map on the communicator that showed a shade Cyborg had told him was unusually red for the area; suddenly, he clenched his fists and squared his jaw. Beast Boy leaned over the alley beside the warehouse and dropped into the shadows; he landed silently on furry paws and casually snuck his way to the corner. His green, furry face leaned past the wall at the workers and the slits of his yellow eyes focused on the crates. He took a deep breath and released it with a lazy purr.

A husky man stagger towards the warehouse with a large wooden crate weighing him down, leaving him white-knuckled and barely able to see the path in front of him.

He never even saw the rhinoceros in front of him.

The light charge threw him from where stood onto the wide concrete floor. His box lay thrown on the floor where it had been dropped, accompanied only by the black snow cap that been knocked clear from his head. Beast Boy morphed back to his normal form and took an offensive stance towards the rest of the men.

"What's going on?" the old man in charge shouted, running from the warehouse door.

Beast Boy stared him in eye and boldly replied while laying his hand on the top of the fallen box. "Nothing, I'm just here to stop your bosses."

A look of anger flashed over the man's face. "Bosses?" he asked indignantly. "What bosses?"

"You can't fool me," Beast Boy answered, pulling madly at the box top, "Killer Moth and Firefly are going down and they're sure gonna miss their shipment of... of..."

The top flew off the box and he peered in.

"...of... poop."

A torn bag of manure lay spilled in the box, the aroma already seeping through the bag and the box and into the night air.

"Crap."

"That's right, jackass. What the hell did you think was going on?"

Beast Boy slowly backed away from the horrible smell that radiated from the broken box. The men at the warehouse began walking towards him with annoyed looks and edged away from them as well. "Hey, guys, I was just comin' in and checking everything out. I really didn't mean to stop you from your hard work." Beast Boy found himself nearing the wooden pier over the water. "Well, I can see you guys are doin' okay so I'll just... get on outta here."

He spun around and bailed out over the edge.

Several men furiously ran forward and peered into the darkened water, waiting for him to resurface.

"Blasted Titans," the old man grumbled loudly from the back of the small crowd, "always jumpin' in everything and making things worse. Even worse than the League..."

A murmur of agreement rustled through the group as they returned to their pending job of unloading crate after crate of sealed manure. The patter of their feet died out as they left the dock.

Soft waves rhythmically lapped against the concrete wall.

And at the base of the pier, under the wooden planks of the pier, in a large sewer entrance, sat Beast Boy, wet and smelling atrociously foul.

He suddenly stood up straight. "I just stuck my face in crap!" he quietly shouted. The ripples bounced back, ignoring him completely.

Beast Boy slowly stood up in the mouth of the sewer drain and reached in to his pocket. He pulled out the Titan communicator and fiddled with the knobs. "I guess I'll just have to tell Robin I didn't find anything." He reluctantly turned around and paged Robin on the communicator.

But his attention became lost.

"_Come in Beast Boy, this is Robin._" Loud, crazed feedback blared at Beast Boy through the communicator as he stared awestruck into the sewer system. "_Repeat: come in Beast Boy._"

"Uh, yeah... Robin?"

"_Yeah?_"

"How exactly do I get rid of these things now?"

Before him laid an enormous lumpy sphere of a fine thread; underneath it, numerous translucent cocoons laid snuggly, gently vibrating; stray ones linked to the massive pile through thin veins. Quick movements were apparent through the blurry red outside coating; fangs and tiny screech flowed erratically from the giant pyromoth breeding ground.

"_Okay, Beast Boy, get Cyborg on an individual line._"

—

_**8:36 pm**_

She descended the crumbling steps without touching them. Raven softly touched ground at the base of the stairs and conducted a visual scan of the area. A homeless man sat with his back to the left wall of the station, groggily keeping himself awake with two bottles of whiskey gripped tightly in his hands; two more ragged men sat huddled on the distant opposite wall and stared greedily at the drunk figure across them. Between their drunk standoff, streams of people in suits flowed hurriedly towards the stairs behind Raven.

She worked her way slowly upstream against the oncoming crowd. The current of businessmen and women seemed to endlessly rush from the open subway door ahead, and they all shared the same sunny attitude...

A passing shoulder jutted out and slammed Raven back.

"Agh!" she grunted. Her eyes dashed around and saw the flow around her completely uninterrupted. "No, thank you," she mumbled, "I'm perfectly fine..."

Taking a step forward, Raven met yet another shove from a random direction.

Her eyes narrowed.

Sighing, Raven lowered her eyes and sunk back into her cloak. Bodies pressed tightly in the continuous river of mindless drones and closed in on her as she stood absolutely still. The dim shadows cast by the weak overhead lights engulfed her figure and she fell under the trampling feet of the mass migration.

A low but clear beep pierced the murmuring hustle of the underground subway station.

The call seemed to dam the flood as the people disappeared as quick as they had arrived. The subway doors closed tightly; it jolted back to life and took off with amazing speed.

Silence.

A newspaper sat where the flood had been seconds earlier. Not a single suit remained in the station.

An ebony bird sprung from the floor with outstretched wings. Raven emerged, unscathed from the bird and continued walking through the now-empty subway station.

The two homeless men on the right wall stared in complete horror at the empath.

She turned and looked dead at them.

"Get your own booze."

She returned her gaze to the tracks ahead and down at the communicator in her hand; the thermal map showed heat in the area, but Cyborg had said the station itself was as hot as usual.

"Um, miss?"

A girl sitting behind a thick glass window and a titanium booth weakly waved towards her. As Raven floated towards her, the girl shrunk back into the brightly lit booth.

"Yes?"

The girl, looking barely older than Raven herself, straightened up and swallowed deeply.

"Um, well, do you n-need a ticket?" she asked, staring down at the times schedule before her.

"Actually, I need to take inspect the subway tunnels for... safety reasons," Raven answered. "Can I just take a quick look?"

The girl darted her eyes nervously. "Well, I-I don't know... I've already gotten in trouble for letting in people without a ticket and my boss is gonna get real mad if—"

"Look," Raven interrupted. "what's your name?"

"E-Esther."

"Look, Esther. Let me into the tunnel just this time, and if your boss says anything to you..." She smirked. "...tell him to take it up with me. I live in a giant 'T,' I'm sure he'll have no trouble finding it."

The girl smiled flimsily and Raven walked away calmly. She approached the ticket deposit entrance and jumped over the metal bars that mechanically counted the number of daily visitors. Quiet steps echoed through empty station as she neared the tunnel where the subway train had departed minutes earlier. She stepped off the platform onto the empty air and stared into the darkness of the tunnel.

Raven sighed. "Get this over with..." She floated forward into the shadows.

_Click._

Light blazed from a single flashlight, produced from somewhere in her cloak. Raven flew through the tunnel slowly, casting light on the entire surroundings. She looked down at her communicator: she was nearer to the abnormal heat reading Cyborg had marked on her map, but the exact spot was still deeper in the tunnel.

The beam of light danced around the surroundings.

Graffiti lit up on the walls and received more light than it had in years. Below her, the crackle of the electric lines pulsated rhythmically along with the patter of small, beastly feet.

Raven's face showed the distraction she felt, thinking more about the possible horrors that crawled below her than of the search for the nest of pyromoths.

Deprived of sight and sound save her furry companions below, time passed slowly for Raven.

Her face remained stoic as thoughts passed lazily through her mind; she left a trail of empty questions as she floated steadily through the cold air.

Raven barely even noticed open conversation on her communicator.

"—_Cyborg on an individual line._"

She reacted belated and took it out as terrible screeching came from the speaker. It went silent for a moment then the noise emerged again at a low hum.

"_Starfire, you've already got the instructions. Follow through and dispatch the nest from the factory._"

"_Affirmative._"

"_We have less than an hour, everybody; we can't lose this one to time. Let's get those nests. Robin, out._"

Static filled the main line as Raven switched the communicator back to the map.

"Hmmmm, no questions for me." Raven stared at the map. "Guess everything's just—"

_Creeeeak_.

White light flashed brilliantly from behind her and the air rustled swiftly. Raven bolted to her left and slipped into the shadows just as a subway train barreled past at breakneck speed. Every passing car brought another screeching ton of steel rocketing past her and another flurry of odd figures silhouetted by train lights. The last car rushed past and slapped the air with a final gust of wind.

She emerged from the steel wall and stared at the fading light of the last car.

Raven inhaled deeply and floated back over the track in darkness.

_Click._

Her flashlight fluttered back on and she examined the walls again. The beam slowly fell towards the deserted floor.

"Well, at least _they're_ gone."

She levitated slowly forward while taking out the communicator; the map showed a small red section in the middle of the screen. "Wait, where am _I_?" In the midst of the red sector, a small purple dot blinked steadily.

The beam wandered all around. "Where are _you_?"

It skipped over a small pile of old wood.

Some newspaper.

Spiderwebs.

Graffiti.

Rats.

The flashlight finally settled on a rusted door handle seemingly stuck in the middle of wall for no reason.

"Bingo."

Arriving at the door, Raven reached for handle.

Locked.

"Get an 'A' for effort..." She touched the handle and closed her eyes; the door shook strongly for only a moment before flinging open.

She stepped into the dark room and shone the flashlight; Raven pulled out her communicator.

"Cyborg."

Silence.

"_Just take the freakin' dollar!_"

Silence.

"Uh, Cyborg?"

"_Yeah?_"

"I'm going to need those instructions."


	11. Crossbreed IV

_**8:51 pm**_

Wilderness.

It was strangely familiar: unkempt vegetation, big rolls of land, and only a moon hanging sadly in the sky. Gravel crunched loudly under my feet as I ran at a brisk pace along the rough road; behind me, the city grew smaller alongside the dark and blurred horizon.

My eyes focused on the path before me, stretching far into a seemingly endless night. But it was a familiar path and my mind quickly wandered its own way...

The plants were pleasant. Green covered both sides of the road and smothered the ground with blankets of grass; trees grew in thick patterned lines laid centuries ago. The foliage was wonderful really, but it did nothing for my attention: skyscrapers and high-rise offices lined my mental view; roads tore through the empty spaces between corporate monoliths and weak smog perfumed the air.

I longed to be back in the city again, and yet there I was, for some reason assigned to search the location on the map furthest from civilization...

At least I hadn't had to walk the entire way over: Cyborg's destination had conveniently left him near the road to my own. He offered me a ride and I gladly accepted the help to a road that led to the city limits. Unfortunately, it still left me within a long walking distance from the endpoint.

I jogged steadily, recognizing—but necessarily caring for—the landscape as I passed it.

I saw imaginary people in fast cars whizzing past me, racing to get home, get to work, get to school, get on with the next phase of their complex lives. Nobody had a complex life in the countryside. Nobody bought and sold and traded their lives away in grandiose castles of steel. Nobody got anywhere.

The crunching beneath my shoes slowly became louder and louder as the road became nothing more than loose pebbles.

I looked down at the faded black communicator in my hand; it was smooth and well-worn, obviously having belonged to a previous owner. A still image of the city under thermal radar glowed on the screen; the quadrant I headed towards shone on the map like an uneven jack-o-lantern.

An imaginary helicopter flew overhead noisily.

Suddenly, an area ahead came into focus. A large sign flew proudly over the entrance that materialized ahead of me.

"City Dump."

I smiled as I walked up to my favorite shopping center. Slowly edging to the side, I avoided the glare of the enormous bright spotlights that illuminated the entrance to the junkyard. The cheap road led directly to them, evidently to serve their purpose of spotting visitors.

Visitors in cars, at least, but they were useless for spotting intruders on foot. Moving from the side with my back to the chain-link fence, I slipped in silently until I reached the entrance booth. I slowly rose to the window and focused into the brightly lit interior.

Mordy sat soundly asleep in his chair.

Mordy. I had learned more useful American culture by listening to him talk with customers and listening in on his television programs than I ever did in School. He was slightly overweight and balding beneath his security cap and he always seemed to have something stuck in his nose while he talked, but despite the regular supply of ornery customers, he never seemed to get angry with any of them.

The television on the stool in front of his sleeping body flickered as a big-nosed brown-haired man argued with a fat blond woman who was apparently his mother. They bickered until another big-nosed tall man in a police uniform stumbled into the room and interrupted with a dry, monotonous voice. The sound of an audience laughing hysterically flowed from the screen as all three stood awkwardly on camera.

I sighed and stood up. Never understood the humor of American sitcoms...

Stretching as high as I could, my fingers reached for the edge of the booth's roof. Coming short only slightly, I took a step backward and lunged forward and off of the wall; my grip on the roof held and I pulled myself up the wall silently.

I walked forward softly, careful not wake Mordy below me; while he seemed like a decent person, I doubted he would enjoy my unwelcome, unauthorized presence.

A muffled tap sounded as I hit the ground in a crouch.

Nothing stirred around me.

I straightened myself up and walked calmly through the valley of forgotten treasures. Toasters, toilets, tubs, trash by the ton, the junkyard was filled to the brim with objects that had long lost their intrigue but not their usefulness. It never took long to find something in there that still served a secondhand purpose.

I passed a small tower of broken ceramic tile and scanned over the yard with probing eyes. Mounds of junk rose above the general trash of the floor and blocked my view. I pulled the black communicator out from my side and stared at the map on the screen: there wasn't a lot of detail... hardly enough for me to find anything in a large area, much less an area flooded with enough junk to mask and mingle with the presence of a heat source. My eyes glanced away from screen and went back to dancing around the assorted parts of the dump. There had to be something that would mark the presence of something so... hot and organic.

I stepped up to a large mound of broken electronic parts and began digging.

—

_**8:32 pm**_

Wind whipped around him as he darted through sparsely occupied city streets. Robin sped along a vacant street lane in the R-Cycle and swerved into a right turn at a red light without stopping.

"Thank God rush hour's over..."

Street signs passed in blurs as Robin weaved through available lanes. Buildings emerged along the side as he arrived to the heart of the city.

His eyes took a glimpse at the map that shone on the screen as the R-Cycle swung into an alleyway simultaneously. The wheels screeched to a dead standstill as the motorcycle pulled into the sealed extremity of the alley.

Robin leaped off the R-Cycle and cast his helmet onto the seat; the motorcycle beeped with satisfying security as Robin unveiled his communicator and checked his location.

"One block north." He walked out from the shadows and glanced around the street. "Perfect."

Robin ran swiftly down the sidewalk with the communicator still in his palm. As he continued running, lights in the blurred distance grew brighter; Robin kept his swift pace as they materialized into large neon signs on building tops and lights that danced around the building walls.

He glanced down and saw his position directly in front of the target area on the map. Robin looked back up as he slowed down and read the name of the bright building in front of him.

"You've got to be _kidding_ me..."

The words "Club Soto" glowed from the top of the building as hordes of young people in flashy outfits crowded around the entrance.

"Damn Moth, always getting me into this..."

With a deep sigh, Robin slowly crossed the street and joined the unorganized mass around the single industrial-sized steel door that was the entrance. Robin fought to look over the idly standing crowd towards the front where a husky man stood with his arms crossed in unquestioning defiance.

He walked around the back of the crowd and searched the sides in hopes of finding a line of some sort.

There was none.

Reluctantly, he leaned towards the stragglers in the back of the crowd. "Um... how... how exactly do you get into this place?"

"Duh, the bouncer lets you in," the girl in front of him answered without even turning around.

He took a step back and looked over the crowd. The people were pressed so closely, there wasn't even enough room for Beast Boy squeeze through as a snake. With even heavier hesitation, Robin leaned forward again.

"Do... Do you know how I can get up there?"

The girl haughtily flipped her blond hair back as she turned her head slightly to the side.

"The same way as everyone else, dumba—"

Her eye opened wide as she continued turning her head. Her mouth hung wide as she fully turned around.

"Oh my... You Y-You—You're... You're... Robin."

He reached behind his head. "Mmmm, yeah. Listen, do you know how—"

"Lindsey, Lindsey! Look!"

A blonde beside her angrily turned. "What! What?" She caught sight of the yellow and black cape.

"Holy..."

Robin looked away with pain. "Listen, I really _really_ need to find how to—"

"Ashley!"

"—get to—"

"Brett!"

"—any place else..."

A dull buzz of mumbling suddenly rose from the crowd.

Robin began visibly sweating.

Not wanting any more unnecessary attention, he worked his way into the crowd.

"Hey, watch it, ya—" He tried to slip away without apologizing. "Dude! It's..."

He pushed past the smell of cheap cologne and perfume and finally arrived at the head of the crowd as the whispers around him became louder and louder.

"...Oh my God!"

"...It can't believe it's..."

"...Gawd, he's so..."

"...I thought he'd be taller..."

The pain was visible on Robin's face as he stepped forward to the beefy man standing beside the door handle.

The bouncer stood absolutely still.

"...I wonder where the other Titans are..."

Robin stared at him, waiting for some kind of reaction; the bouncer merely stay put with crossed arms. Hearing the whispers behind him getting louder, Robin walked forward and reached for the door handle.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Robin eyed the hand holding the door and followed it up to the bouncer's cold face.

"I need to get in there for... an inspection," he replied earnestly.

"Oh, is that it, eh?" The bouncer cracked a smirk. "Nice costume, but I can't let you lookin' like that."

Robin let go of the door handle and looked down at his uniform. "What? Look, I _have_ to search this place for the safety of the city."

"Nice try, but you can search from out here."

Robin leaned in. "I don't think you understand. I'm going in there, so either you let me in..." He lowered his voice. "...or I let _myself_ in."

The bouncer let out a deep laugh. "You may have the costume kid, but that don't mean you can actually fight like Wonder Bread. Besides..." He gazed back over the crowd. "...I could take on that punk anytime."

Robin's eyes flew open.

"What! You've got exactly three seconds to—"

"Don't worry about it, Saul, he's with me."

A hand from behind suddenly grabbed Robin's arm; the bouncer cocked his head uneasily and nodded as he turned away. Robin didn't even have to turn as he was yanked through the open metal door.

—

_**9:09 pm**_

The former pile of broken electronics lay scattered in a two meter radius.

And I had nothing to show for it but several short cuts on my hands.

The map on my communicator did absolutely nothing to help me find the nest: the entire junkyard was uniformly cool and barely warmer than its surrounding area. Cyborg assured me that fact alone was enough to cast suspicion on the area; he said that the dump was normally "as cold as Raven." I had laughed, despite the fact that she had actually been in the car when he said it.

My eyes wandered over numerous mountains and I stared dumbly at the piles of garbage. There was no way I was going to be able to find an exit in the place, much less a carefully hidden nest...

Not that I really minded. Besides the faint smell of unholy decay, the junkyard wasn't too displeasing. It provided generous fuel for innovation at a very agreeable price; it even gave the distant feel of the city with its constant flow of broken gadgets and fresh supply of newer technology.

The only problem was the eerie silence.

It always seemed like natural sounds became more creepily apparent in these areas. The birds all turned into crows and owls whenever I set foot near the place; sounds from the road echoed across the trees and amplified into hollow calls; dogs were always barking loudly in the distant background. Everything I hated about the woodlands gathered together and audibly stabbed at me with a myriad of dull threats.

I worked a shiver out of my back and squatted down over another pile of dirty spare parts. I recognized a small trinket and picked it up; it was a piece for which I had been looking for a long time and the last one I needed to finish my little project. Happily, I stowed it away in my side pocket.

Suddenly, I froze.

I stood straight up and listened to the night air: the barks hadn't been that loud a second ago.

Carefully, I listened for anything suspicious. Incredibly, silence filled the gap left by the complete lack of the usual noises.

I crouched back down and tried to keep looking through a pile of junk.

_Hawooooooooooooooooo_

The howl was definitely closer than it had been before.

_HAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_

It was _in_ the junkyard.

I shot glances around me: nothing was in sight. That didn't prevent me from jumping to the tallest pile of trash next to me; I ran up the side of the mountain until the inclination forced me to lean forward and claw my way to the top. Lightly panting, I reached the top and straightened myself as I peered across the entire lot.

Wind blew softly.

Crickets chirped.

And nothing stirred.

Silence.

I gave a quick sigh, turned back to go down... and stared into narrowed eyes.

Two pairs of solid black pupils.

Some people believe that cats are the Devil's pets. I, personally, never subscribed to that theory... especially not when the Hounds of Hell were standing before me so closely that I could smell the raw meat in their breath.

I took a step back to the top of the mountain and smiled softly.

"Ummm... woof?"

Somehow I didn't think they appreciated the humor.

Without warning, the black Doberman to the right sprang forward into the air, teeth bared. His jaws snapped shut centimeters from my arm as I dropped back and landed on the steep mountainside. My feet landed awkwardly on scrap metal and I looked up to see the second dog already beside the first.

I _really_ didn't think they appreciated the humor.

A deep growl escaped their throats as they simultaneously lunged for me.

I was shooting down the moment before their legs left the floor.

Trash split to the sides as I slid down the massive pile of trash feet first. I leaned forward and used my hands to balance myself as I shot downhill backwards towards the ground. The hounds tore after me furiously, quickly surpassing my pace and closing in on me with maddening barks. I shot a look behind myself and measured the distance to the ground floor: at the rate I was going, they would catch me before I even reached the bottom. My mind raced for some way to out-slide the beasts.

Fortunately, Fate beat me to it.

I suddenly found my foot caught on a steel pipe and my body thrown off-balance; I was flung into the air with my back to the ground as my feet left the mountain completely. I desperately reached for anything to hold onto, but came up with nothing but a fistful of air.

—

_**9:02 pm**_

Thundering, piercing, blaring noise.

The clamor of insane bass flooded the ambiance of the room with the fury of a hurricane. Robin fought to regain his sense of balance; bright flurries of colored lights flashed around from the ceiling, giving him a sense of spatial emptiness. Dots danced before his eyes as they slowly adjusted to the haphazard lighting of the interior of the club. A sea of young people extended before him to the far wall, each bouncing and swaying to the quick tempo of the driving rhythm blasting from overhead speakers.

"Never been 'ere before, have ya?"

Robin spun around and faced the guy who had dragged him in through the entrance. He stood at a modest height and build, clothes were normal and he had an inconspicuous face; there was nothing in the least way threatening about him.

"No," Robin shouted over the roar of the music, "not recently at least..."

The guy smiled and, all of a sudden, his face looked a lot younger than before. "Should come here more often, this place is hot," he yelled back.

Robin stared at his face. "Uh... yeah... thanks for helping me get in here but I need to go finish some business."

He slowly started to back away. "This is more the kinda thing Speedy would be into..." he mumbled to himself.

"Ey, wait, man! Chill out some, come with me. Hey..." The boy leaned in closely. "...you wanna get on the horse?"

Bodies danced around Robin as he stood absolutely still.

"What?"

The boy smiled and got in closer. "Horse. Horse! You wanna buy some horse?"

Thundering rock filled the awkward silence.

"Heroin?"

Robin leaned in. "You're trying to sell illegal drugs to a city crimefighter?"

The boy kept the same suggestive smile on his face.

"Are you even legal?"

The boy leaned back flustered. "What? Me? I... of-of course! Why woul-wouldn't..."

Robin's sigh was masked by the loud music. "Get away from me before I throw you in jail." He ducked away and weaved through the crowd as loud murmurs began rising around him.

"Hey, Robin!"

"How's it goin' man?"

"Oh my Gawd!"

"Where's your girlfriend, Robin?"

"I love you!"

"Wanna dance, Robin?"

He shuddered as he snaked through the crowd, avoiding the eyes of the people crowding around him.

"Dude! Can I join the…"

"Where's the hot Goth?"

More and more people turned their attention to the passing Titan.

"Robin! Wanna come hang out?"

The mass following suddenly stopped, realizing that the Boy Wonder had disappeared from sight completely. The booming music did little to mask their complaints.

"He didn't even talk to us!"

"_I_ think he was scared."

"Prick..."

The dancing and music continued undisturbed.

And from behind a dancing couple, Robin emerged with a grimace. "Thanks for the cover," he said to the couple.

"Hey, anything for Gotham City's best sidekick," the guy answered with a smile.

Robin nodded and sulked away. "_Ex_-sidekick..." he muttered under his breath.

_BEEEEEEP._

He instinctively pulled out the communicator and flipped it open, waiting for a message, apparently from Beast Boy. A couple moments passed before he called out for him.

"Come in Beast Boy, this is Robin. Repeat: come in Beast Boy."

_"Uh, yeah... Robin?"_

Robin visibly waited for an answer. "Yeah?"

"_How exactly do I get rid of these things now?_"

"Okay, Beast Boy, get Cyborg on an individual line."

A loud screech suddenly ripped through the speakers of the club. Robin winced and ran into a small hallway that led to the restrooms, continuing forward until the music was barely audible. Unfortunately, outside the bathroom door, the music still muted normal speech.

Taking a deep breath, Robin pushed the door of the bathroom opened and looked around the bathroom stalls.

Nobody was around.

Sighing, he picked up the communicator and continued the instructions. "Star, you've already got the instructions. Follow through and dispatch the nest from the factory."

"_Affirmative._"

"We have less than an hour, everybody; we can't lose this one to time. Let's get those nests. Robin, out."

He flipped the top of the communicator close and walked back to the door; as he opened it, a thin girl walked by aimlessly.

Robin nodded his head and walked past her. "Evening."

She continued going.

She reached for the sink and stopped.

A look of complete confusion covered her face.

Robin reached the main dance room and paused: the music had picked up its full volume again and vibrated the entire room menacingly. "Raven!" he muttered loudly. "She's underground, there's little chance she can even receive a message from me," He sighed and examined the mindless dancing crowd. "She won't need too much help..."

The insatiable pulse continued. As the beat blasted through the speakers, the people kept dancing frantically in one huge single-bodied group, mixing the aroma of perfume and sweat and mint in the surrounding air. But nothing odd appeared anywhere.

The map glowed dimly on Robin's face as he scanned it over, specifically watching the location of the club. It had been one of the first ares they had suspected because how so many bodies could theoretically mask the presence of a nest's heat. Unfortunately, it also meant that the map was useless in determining the exact location of the nest.

The communicator clicked shut and Robin walked into the army of dancing zombies. "Guess it's time for some detective work..."

He worked his way past flailing limbs and jerking bodies towards the west wall of the club. After swaying past a large majority of lashing appendages, Robin arrived to a small stool and leaned over a counter.

The bartender turned around, wiping a medium-sized glass with a white rag, and stopped as he suspiciously eyed the caped teen standing before him.

"We ask for ID if that's what you're here to find out."

"Not really..." Robin answered. "I'm here on different city business. I was just wondering if you'd noticed anything unusual around here lately, barkeep?"

He smirked. "'Barkeep?' This look like a saloon to you?" He shook his head and continued cleaning the glass in his hand. "I serve drinks at a club, the _only_ things I see _every_ night are unusual things."

Robin kept an unchanged expression. "Right, is there anything that you can specifically remember that seemed out of place?"

The man finished polishing the glass. "No, not really," he replied nonchalantly.

Robin took a step back and turned to leave.

"Well... there was this one chick Saul was talked about a couple days when we were closing," the man continued, putting the glass down. "She was young, maybe still in high school, and blond. Came in here demanding to be let into the backstage area to do something or talk to somebody."

Robin nodded absentmindedly. "Thanks for your help, but I'm just gonna keep..."

"She made a big scandal: threatened to 'tell her Daddy' and some crap." Robin turned and cautiously eyed the man as he continued. "Couldn't understand what she was whining about, so we threw 'er out as quickly as we could. Other than that, I really can't remember any—"

He stopped as he looked up.

Robin was gone.

Music continued blasting through the speakers as lights flashed in synchronization with the beat. At the front of the room against the wall across from the entrance, a DJ with oversized headphones scratched away at a spinning record with exaggeratedly rhythmic bounces and jabs.

The crowd loved every second of it.

Only a couple of feet from center stage, the Boy Wonder crouched behind a wall separating him from the crowd. Next to him, a small set of steps led up to the DJ booth and into public view. On the other side of the booth and down a matching set of stairs, a simple metallic door lay hidden beside an identical wall.

Robin slowly rose to the highest place on the stairs and braced his legs against the steps.

Beams shot around the room haphazardly, illuminating random dancers with ethereal glows and throwing the occasional spotlight to the mesmerizing disc jockey.

Robin clenched his teeth and stared at the lights. Releasing a silent cry, he flew onto the stage and dove past an oblivious DJ to the opposing flight of stairs. Flesh met tile as he rolled onto the first step and sprung into a landing crouch at the base of the small stairs.

The music screeched to a halt.

Green and blue spotlights lit up the stage as a wave of silence passed over the crowd. Robin turned to see the raised hands of the catatonic disc jockey; he held them high above as if in reverence to an unseen deity.

Suddenly, he slammed them down onto the table and the music roared back to life.

Robin slowly stepped back through the threshold with the doorknob in his hand.

He closed the door... and brought a damper on the world around him.

A muffled robotic beat droned through the walls and dim lights beam into the hallway from thin vents near the ceiling. The walls stretched to the left, leaving the entrance at the beginning of some sort of narrow hallway.

"Onward, ho..."

Gloved green hands led the way as Robin moved along the hallway with a steady hold on the left wall.

In only a matter of yards, his hand hit metal.

_Click._

The flashlight beam revealed a simple doorknob on a smooth metal door similar to the one he had entered.

_Crreeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaak._

The dry hinges of the cold door whined loudly as Robin passed through and examined the room that followed.

The walls were criminally bare, void of any decoration or distraction from its solid black color. On the floor, the dancing flashlight beamed revealed two or three piles of thick coiled rope laying idly; several large black boxes were piled in a far corner and old papers lay scattered on the floor.

Robin shined a light on the floor and picked up a nearby paper.

It was a faded yellow half-sheet of paper, with the words "KC Performance Hall" printed boldly across the top of the page. His eyes rested on the old wood of the floor beneath him. "This place is a stage?" he wondered aloud.

The flyer floated back to the ground as Robin walked further into the large empty room.

The flashlight beam moved across the boxes that seemed to absorb the light, leaving the corner darker than others. Robin slowly wandered over to the boxes and examined the exterior: black felt covered the outside of the solid boxes and a single padlock adorned the front of each one.

The titanium flashlight clattered onto the floor as he wrapped both arms around the top crate and picked it up, feeling no resistance.

"Empty."

He placed it to the side and reached for another box on the top row.

"Empty."

The remaining three boxes on the top row turned out as light as the first two.

Robin bent down and gripped the handles of the first box on the bottom row. He straightened his back and pushed on his legs.

The box stayed put.

He smirked and let go of the handles.

"Bingo."

_Thwack._

Weak light glinted off metal as the bo staff swung in a perfect horizontal arc and solidly struck the lock. The arm of the lock bent awkwardly and a swift kick knocked it clear off. Robin propped the light lid open and glanced in with the same smirk.

His smile fell.

"What in the world..."

He picked up a small plastic bag and stared at the visible contents through the clear walls: small yellow and purple pills filled the bag to the bulging limit. He gripped the heavy bag and shined the flashlight into the box.

A large collection of unlabeled bags identical to the one in his hand filled the box.

Robin knelt by the box silently and examined the evidence lying in front of him. "I really _don't_ have time to be dealing with this right no—"

The chain cut off his sentence.

Suddenly, he felt himself getting dragged from behind by a tight pull on his neck.

The chain cut off his air supply.

Robin jerked to his feet but was met by another pull backwards, sliding him back into an inclined dangling position with his feet dragging the ground.

A voice grumbled behind him. "I thought we might be gettin' a nosy visitor back here."

Robin's handles clawed at the chain that gripped him tightly around the neck; his bo staff rested a few feet away, completely out of his reach.

"Shoulda kept your face outta places it didn't belong, kid."

The pressure increased even more as Robin fought to get loose. His punches failed to reach the body of the man behind him, his legs couldn't even lean on the floor.

"Better hope your brat friends don't show either," he scoffed, "or we'll take care of 'em too."

As black dots appeared before his eyes, Robin narrowed his brow and swallowed what little breath he had left. Letting go of the chain, Robin gripped the meaty hands holding the chain and pulled his feet straight up to his chest.

He planted them on the ground beneath his torso and vaulted himself straight up.

The thrust carried his legs clear over the man's head and dragged his chest and head forcibly with it.

Robin landed weakly behind the man but held firmly onto the hands that he still held.

_Wheeze. _

"What—"

_Cough._

"—were you—"

_Cough._

"—saying?"

The bouncer from the entrance gagged under the chain that now pressed against his own throat, held tightly by his own hands.

_Cough._

"Now, you're going to tell me exactly—"

_Cough._

"—_where_ these drugs came from and _how_ Killer Moth and Firefly play into all of this. And you're going to do it like a civilized person._"_

The chain slackened only slightly.

"I don't know!"

_Cough_.

"I've never seen Killer Moth and I've never even 'eard of Firefly!"

Robin sighed aloud. "It's not a good idea to lie to a costumed crimefighter..."

_Cough._

"The drugs—"

_Cough._

"—they come from someplace else."

_Cough._

"They get distributed around to local peddlers for a fee."

Robin nodded. "Now we're getting somewhere. Tell me where—"

He suddenly stopped.

The numbed blare of outside music could still be heard through the walls.

Robin's eyes widened.

He leaped onto the bouncer's back, pulled back like a driver on a horse-driven carriage, and dropped his back to the floor. The would-be attacker gurgled dumbly as his own hands choked him and thrust him backwards; a swift kick from his lying position finished Robin's throw as Saul flew through the air.

The steel door flew open and two burly men emerged from the hallway.

"Hey, ya gonna need any help in here—"

**CRASH.**

The flying body gracefully knocked them completely back and closed the door behind them.

Moans rose as the former attacker rolled off his two underlings and gasped for air on the side.

_Cough._

_Wheeze._

_Cough._

"Don't just lay—"

_Wheeze._

"—lay there on your lazy as—"

_Cough._

_Cough._

"..."

"GET IN THERE!"

The two men jumped back to their feet and scrambled for the door; the first thug halted completely as he slowly propped it open with his foot.

_Crreeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaak_.

He peered cautiously forward with narrowed eyes and clenched fists.

The room was empty.

He stepped forward. "I don't think 'es in here, Bos—"

The steal shaft met his bottom jaw and shut him up.

He fell forward, holding his mouth with both hands.

Two bodies barreled through the doorway over the kneeling henchman and shot furiously frantic looks around the room.

Robin stood absolutely still a yard from the door leaning his right side on the wall, bo staff in his folded arms.

The crooks faced the Boy Wonder and stepped in closer.

"Here's a deal," Robin proposed bluntly, "you tell me how the drugs got here and how Moth and Firefly play into this, and I'll make sure you three get to jail without getting beaten into submission."

Saul let out a laugh. "Sorry kid, no deal. We're not giving everything up that easily."

The two standing thugs circled around Robin until they were to his left and back side. The bouncer walked in front of him and completed the triangle around him.

"How 'bout we cut you a deal." Saul grinned angrily and held out a fist. "You never tell another soul what you found in 'ere cause we beat you down."

Robin cocked an eyebrow.

He hung his head and softly shook his head.

The thug to his immediate left lunged forward with full force and closed fists.

Robin planted a boot on the wall beside him and thrust off into an aerial somersault. He flipped clear over the head of the charging crook and landed firmly behind his imbalanced body. The bo staff flew out and took out both of the crook's feet with a single sweep.

The second henchman grasped Robin by the shoulder from behind as he brought a punch forward.

Robin grabbed the wrist and twisted the arm into the path of the incoming punch; the thug howled in pain as his shoulder popped and his knees buckled.

He flung the arm away just as a kick darted towards his exposed back.

Robin swung the staff and caught the leather boot at an angle only inches away. He spun around and faced the worried and vulnerable bouncer.

A smile slowly crossed across Robin's face. "Should have taken the deal, Saul..."

The bo staff tore his only standing leg out from under him.

Robin scanned the scene quickly: the first thug was already up from the initial trip and fumbling around his pocket; the crook suddenly flicked out his hand and thrust it forward.

His hand held a hunting knife.

Robin dodged the swing to his left shoulder and delivered a sharp roundhouse to the side of the thug's unprotected head, leaving him staring numbly at the floor.

On the far corner of the room, he spotted the thug with the injured arm looking for an exit.

With a quick sprint, Robin slid into him feet-first and caught his heel with a metal-rimmed boot. The henchman crashed forward with no way to hold himself up, and landed on a shadowed metallic box.

Something in the room whirred to life with a soft humming sound.

Robin inspected the box and only found a small light blinking rhythmically, but nothing unusual.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the bouncer hobbling madly towards the door.

Too far away to stop him, he pulled out the bo staff and held it back.

The bouncer moved faster towards the exit.

Robin waited.

He came within three yards.

Robin waited.

Two yards.

Waited.

One.

Robin let loose the staff like an Olympic javelin.

It darted through the air and closed in on the bouncer's head as he reached the final steps before the door.

In a split second, the staff sailed in front of his neck.

It caught on both sides of the wall around the threshold as the bouncer ran halfway through the empty doorway before being closelined in the neck.

**Thud.**

He dropped like a package of bricks and stayed motionless.

Robin grinned. "_Really_ should have taken the deal..."

He took a quick step forward and watched his shadow grow smaller against the far wall.

"A shadow?" He paused in his step. "But the room is completely dark—"

Robin spun around abruptly into a defensive fighting stance.

A hundred pairs of scattered eyes returned his fierce gaze.

He inhaled deeply and lowered both hands.

Where a steel wall had stood only moments before... was a wall of empty space, inviting the curious and attentive eyes of an entire battalion of silent and motionless people.

The DJ shared the same look as the crowd as his headphones hung loosely around his neck and his open mouth fumbled for appropriate words.

"Uh..." Robin started, finally breaking the silence, "have... fun, guys..."

The silence in the large room was deafening.

He scanned the audience quickly. "Oh yeah, and you in the back..." Heads turned. "...stop selling heroin before the cops come in and give you thirty years."

Robin reached for the metallic box nestled in the corner of the stage and pushed off the unconscious henchman.

He pressed a green glowing button.

_Whrrrrrr..._

A curtain of sectioned steel sprung to life and slowly descended across the space in front of him.

The eyes of the dumbfound crowd never left the costumed boy until the curtain completely blocked the empty space.

Robin swallowed an uneasy breath and continued staring at the wall that closed before him.

_BEEEEEEP._

The bo staff sliced through the air as Robin spun around and searched the room.

_BEEEEEEP._

He sighed and reached for the communicator.

"This is Robin."

Slight pause.

"_Is it dangerous if the nests get 'disabled' in a... different way?_"

—

_**9:36 pm**_

My scarf barely missed being caught under incoming claws.

I rolled away furiously and scrambled to my feet. The growling beast landed where I had been laying only moments before, followed closely by his identical companion. Their eyes were completely fixed on me; their brown muzzles adorned with bared teeth.

Bared teeth that looked strangely hungry for Russian blood.

Both animals trotted menacingly towards me, stopping only two or so yards away.

I stood absolutely still in front of them, wondering if maybe my lack of rapid motion would calm them down and ease their ferocity: I had frequently been told that canines could sense fear in humans...

Apparently, they had a very developed sense of smell.

I darted down an opening between two mounds of trash just as the farthest one charged forward.

I sprinted past the mountains and made a quick turn to a left pathway leading along more mounds of refuse.

A crash behind me let me know that both hounds were hot on my trail.

I ran at full speed, jumping over the miscellaneous poles and posts that laid across the path and being fully aware of the incoming presence of the frenzied hounds behind me.

A stretch of clear path appeared before me and I shot a quick glance behind me...

...just as one of the dogs sprung forward with claws aimed for my vulnerable back.

I halted in my tracks, kicking dust into the air, as I flung my upper torso down and ducked under the flying dog. His back legs brushed against my head as I broke a streak into a diverging pathway and continued my evasion.

The barks behind me grew more furious by the second.

I knew there was no way I could keep the chase on level path for much longer without being caught and torn to pieces; my eyes searched the passing mountains for something to aid me. Out of the thousands of useful items littered across the yard, nothing appeared to save me.

In front of me, the path abruptly ended.

I flew from the dirt path straight up a small mountain of bathroom fixtures that stood in front of it. Reaching the top in mid-sprint, I lunged off the edge and slid down. At the bottom, I spotted a bathtub with an attached shower head.

Not hesitating for a single second, I reached the long pole at top speed, gripped it tightly with both hands, and jumped forward into the air; my momentum and weight tore it straight off it's rusty fixture and carried it into my hands.

I landed at the base of the bathroom mound and spun around with the metal shaft firmly held between both palms.

The dogs landed directly in front of me and closed in with rabid snarls.

I spun the pole and swung it directly in front of them. I stared at them both with all of the intensity I could muster and stood forcefully in a steady position.

Both dogs seemed to blink questioningly...

I didn't know how to use a staff in battle... and they both knew it.

Familiar growls overtook their faces and they advanced fearlessly.

Chyort.

I flung the pole forwards with all my strength and sprinted from the clearing with my remained stamina. The escape had begun to tire me, I was breathing harder with every step, and mid-stride acrobatics were beginning to make the muscles of my legs feel like melted iron ore.

My path cut clear across the entire lot and before I knew it, I was staring at a stretch of the chain link fence that enclosed the junkyard.

I shot a glance to my left and saw a gargantuan mountain of old cloth. I shook my head: it was much too unstable to climb.

A look to my right revealed a mound of assorted scrap metal too steep to possibly climb with my burning legs. I inhaled deeply and turned to face the attack that would be forced on me.

Unfortunately, the attack was already halfway to forcing itself clear through me.

Two large paws knocked me clear off my feet and sent me onto the floor.

I opened my eyes as the beast pounced on top of me and bit forward.

The nunchaka was the only thing that stopped its jaws from tearing a chunk of my face off; I held both handles tightly as it pressed forward against the mock bit that restrained its face from feasting on mine.

His surprisingly heavy weight pinned me to the floor.

His hot breath hung damply in my face.

Saliva dribbled down and dropped onto my chest...

And then I got pissed.

"Razdrazhayushchee zhivotnoe."

Naïve beasts or not, the dogs were beginning to anger me; I focused all my strength on my arms and thrust forward with all my might. The dog grunted angrily as it flew back and skid on the floor towards the second dog that walked forward to join it.

I stood up, cracking my knuckles.

The canines stepped forward and snarled violently.

I growled back at them with sneer.

"You want some pieces of me?" The dogs growled louder. "Come and try to get them."

The dog who hadn't pounced on me before cautiously crept forward.

"Stupid animal."

I reached for a nearby golf club and held it in both hands. The dog scoffed in his own non-verbal way and began stalking forward.

Shaking my head, I tossed the club forward.

It landed on the dirt floor and rolled to a stop less than a meter in front of the dog.

He stared curiously at the glowing golf club for only a second.

**BOOOOOOOOOOM!**

The blast knocked the mongrel completely onto its back and past the other dog.

He slowly stood back up on all fours; both dogs turned towards me with a renewed intensity in their eyes.

I returned the look with a toaster; it flew through the air and landed between both canines.

Learning quickly, the hounds leaped from their places.

**BOOOOOOOOM!**

Howls filled the air as they charged towards me with open jaws.

I met their charges with a cracked blender, a broken VCR, and an entire television set.

Their paths darted back and forth around my attacks and diverted when I cut them off with increasingly intense explosions. The dogs fought forward and reached two meters distance of me.

I smiled: a pile of seventeen or eighteen computer mouses sat before me; I nailed each paw of both dogs at least twice before finishing the pile of makeshift slings.

Crouching together, but still barking with insane ferocity, the dogs backed against the mountain of cloth and faced me. I picked up a broken computer monitor and prepared the last explosion, hoping that it would be enough to knock both mindless beasts into submission. The weight of the monitor, however, through the accuracy of the throw completely off and left overcompensating and sending it directly into the mountainside.

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!**

The force of the blast blew a huge mound of cloth—as well as screen of dust—completely off the mountain and into the air.

Thick dust choked the air around me. I coughed and waved the dust from my face, searching for the growls I expected to hear any moment.

As the dust cleared in the air, the scene stayed in absolute silence.

Nothing moved.

I took a step backward, suddenly aware of the fact that silence was just as terrible as the eerie echoes that had previously dominated the junkyard.

Suddenly, the mound before me jostled to life. Two lumps rose and moved slowly moved towards the edges.

"You're immortal..."

Aware of the passionate fury the two demonic dogs would not doubt feel when they emerged, I turned and shot up the tall fence with relative ease.

The pair of canines emerged from their hiding places completely unscathed.

Healthy.

Strong.

And _pissed_.

Their eyes immediately locked with mine. The hounds took an angry step forward...

...and were suddenly distracted.

Both dogs turned back to the mountain and slowly ambled over.

I sat on the fence completely dumbfounded, until I heard it.

In the air, a dull sound vibrated over and over.

A weak sound.

A sound like... an electric fan that had been turned on too long.

The dogs lowered their noses to the floor and reached the spot where the computer had blown a hole in the mountainside. They leaned and stayed absolutely still for a second.

I leaned forward to get a better view, but was blocked by the edge of the mountain itself.

Suddenly, one of the dogs let out a small yelp and jumped back; his partner looked back at him, then returned his gaze back to the hole, now with his sharp white teeth showing.

Without any warning, he dove in.

The dog lashed at the hole, dipping his entire head and half of his torso to attack the contents. As his paws moved back and forth frantically, the other beast let out a loud growl and joined him.

They clawed and growled into the whole for two minutes before both of them suddenly stopped and emerged... completely covered in pink. If they hadn't been threatening my life only minutes before, I would have said they were the cutest things I had ever seen.

The pair slowly wobbled a couple feet then collapsed onto the floor.

Confused beyond comprehension, I slid off the fence and cautiously walked over to the crazy animals.

They stayed perfectly still.

I walked over to the hole and peered in. Thick, pink liquid covered the entire surface of the hole, spilling onto the floor in large puddles; various insect parts littered the floor.

I neared the dogs and watched for any aggressive movements.

They looked up at me with the laziest smiles I'd ever seen; they looked positively drunk.

Staring dumbfounded at the dogs, I pulled out the black communicator and fumbled to send an alert.

No response on my first try.

I tried once more.

"_This is Robin._"

I paused, then asked the only question that came to me.

"Is it dangerous if the nests get 'disabled' in a... different way?"

His reply was slow. "_What do you mean... 'a different way?'_"

I shot a glance at the lounging dogs.

"Well..."

—

_**9:53 pm**_

"_...the nest has been accidentally... consumed._"

Robin's mask widened. "It's been what?"

"_There was a pair of ferocious canines and they chased me at great lengths through the forest of trash. Through a series of... events... the nest was uncovered and they proceeded to devour the entire thing._"

He stared at the communicator in his hand, apparently trying to will it into sanity.

"As long as it was disabled without any explosion."

""

"Mika?"

"_Yes._"

"There weren't any explosions were there?"

Silence.

"_... ... ... ... ... ...Not _too _many..._"

Silence.

"Just... keep the explosions to a minimum around the junkyard. Cyborg predicated the insides of the pyromoths to be filled with extremely flammable substances; any explosion could cause that entire junkyard to go up in flames."

"_...Right._"

"Okay, I'll call Cyborg and get you out of there. Robin, out."

He pressed a button on the side of the communicator.

"Come in Cyborg, this is Robin."

"_I hear ya, Robin._"

"How's the apartment complex?"

"_Apparently not as abandoned as we thought it was. Crazy hobos..._"

"Have you located the nest?"

"_Yeah, it's taken care of._"

"Can you pick up Mika on your way to the park?"

"_Sure. Are you coming along soon?_"

"Can't say, I haven't located the nest yet; everybody meet up anyway, I'll get there when I can."

Robin paused as a slight grin crept onto his face. "On second thought, get Beast Boy and Mika and go to these coordinates." He reached forward with his free hand and typed in a set of numbers. "And tell Raven and Starfire to meet me in the Tower."

"_What coordinates are these?_"

"Trust me, _that's_ where the seventh nest will be."

"_Whatever you say, Robin. Cyborg, out._"

Robin clicked it shut and looked around.

The room had regained its shadows and the flashlight resumed being the strongest light source.

"If I was insane, where would I hide a nest of genetically altered superbeasts?"

He stepped towards the boxes in the corner and stared them. Slowly, his gaze drifted to the wooden floor beneath them.

"This place is a stage." The light danced to the front of the room. "And all good performance stages have a special effects department."

Robin jogged to the area next to the metal curtain and quickly scanned the floor with his flashlight for anything that would give it away.

The light glinted off of something.

He saw it: a small metallic ring sat on the floor, apparently tossed aside long ago by a stagehand. Robin walked to it and gave it a quick pull.

_SNAP._

An entire four foot by four foot section of the floor lifted easily off the floor.

Robin jumped into the pitch black darkness and waved the flashlight.

A pile of cardboard rested in the corner.

Set pieces were propped against a wall.

Assorted props laid scattered on the floor.

He turned around and faced a weakly glowing cocoon sphere of fine lines; the beastly screeches from under it confirmed his suspicions.

"The sixth nest." He reached into his belt a took out two flat discs. "Time to cool you down."

_Bzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt._

Robin stopped in his tracks and listened to the random noise.

_Bzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt._

He reached into his belt and pulled out a white blocky cellphone. He hit a button and held it up to his ear.

"What is it?"

"_I hope you kept your end of the bargain, Titan._"

Robin inhaled deeply. "The money is ready; all we need is your instructions."

"_That's the way I like to hear it._" Pause. "_Take the money in a suitcase to the subway station closest to your tower and place it on the 10:20 train to the suburbs. Make sure nobody decides to accompany it. Remember, if we suspect any police involvement or foul play, the nests get released._"

"Just make sure you play true to your word."

"_Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that. Just keep the rest of the Kid's Club from doing anything stupid because Robin..._"

He held the cellphone tightly.

"_...you wouldn't want to get anyone hurt._"


	12. Crossbreed V

_**10:04 pm**_

"Where are we going?"

Cyborg shrugged. "Not really sure, all I have are coordinates. But wherever it is, it's clear across town."

I looked towards the flat map that covered a panel of the T-Car's dashboard and visually traced the short path we had covered and the long winding road outlined ahead of us on the screen.

"From what I can remember," he continued, "it should be in a pretty remote area near the manufacturing sector. Not too hard to get into, but there's a lot of ground for us to cover."

He took his eyes off the road for a moment and cast a quick look towards me. "And you _still_ got red crap on your pants."

Sighing loudly, I twisted the leg of my left foot outward in the passenger's seat and leaned over to examine it. Sure enough, pale red foam stained the back of my pantleg.

"I still can't believe you got away with feeding the moths to freakin' dogs." He shook his head and chuckled softly. "Of all of the ways to get rid of dangerously explosive creatures..."

"It wasn't _enjoyable_ for me," I replied. "Both of them ended up more intoxicated than an old Nazi." I looked at the wet spots on my leg, remembering the extremely unpleasant aftereffects of the beasts' rabid consumption of pyromoth.

I shuddered and looked out at the quickly passing scenery. Trees looked like smudged children's drawings on a black cloth backdrop as we zipped down the street; the road seemed like a continuous river of cheap gray cement.

We sped along in silence, easily going one hundred thirty kilos an hour, towards the buildings rising in the distance.

—

_**10:09 pm**_

Silence in the Tower.

The doors to the Main Room burst open.

"Starfire!"

The orange Tamaranian floated up attentively from a couch in the far half of the room. "Yes?"

Robin sprinted towards the living quarters and yelled behind his back. "Computer room, back table. Bring me one of the small steel boxes sitting on the table. I'll be in my room."

"I shall do so immediately." She shot forward in the opposite direction.

"Raven," he continued. "Basement, next to blue filing cabinet, three suitcases. Bring me the black one."

The empath nodded and spread her cloak out.

"And hurry, we have ten minutes!"

Robin's cape disappeared behind the sliding door.

The last of a large black raven melted into the floor.

—

_**10:11 pm**_

"...And so all we have to do is keep it within 'reasonable' speed and nobody gets a ticket." Cyborg veered right and sped past a small red sports car. "It really helps out a lot 'cause we don't have to worry about getting pulled over on the way to a crime scene or suddenly getting a trail of cops behind us when _we're_ in pursuit."

The T-Car crossed lanes through a gap between two speeding trucks.

"The People took it pretty well," he continued, keeping his eyes locked on the road, "only a few news stations even commented on the deal, and only one newspaper wrote any type of complaint."

I paused and considered the information. "So if the Titans have treaties with the local law enforcement, does that mean you are _not_ funded by the government?"

Cyborg grinned weakly. "Sorry, Mika. That's kinda classified information; it can't leave the Tower's walls..."

Tower's walls? Wasn't I _sleeping_ within the Tower's walls?

"Beast Boy, where are you?"

Sighing, I looked away through the window towards the night and spotted a small shadow on the road next the car. Its outstretched wings carried it swiftly through the air at a speed equal to our own. All of the sudden, the shadow vanished entirely from the floor like a planet that had collapsed in on itself.

**Thud.**

The roof of the T-Car depressed slightly under the added weight as a green head dropped down from on top of it.

"Hey, guys," Beast Boy smiled. "Going my way?"

Cyborg stuck his head out window and shouted against the wind. "GET OFFA MY CAR!"

The wind must have carried his voice because Beast Boy's head disappeared from above the windshield and instantly emerged in the backseat through an open window.

"Geez... didn't have to yell..."

—

_**10:16 pm**_

For the second time in a span of two hours, Raven descended down the stairs of the subway station; Robin dashed behind her with a solid black suitcase hanging heavily in one hand.

They hit the floor at the same time and rushed forward, not wasting a single moment. Robin crossed the vacant station floor and Raven followed behind quickly until they reached the passenger counter.

She halted as Robin rushed over the gate, slowing to a stop when he realized she was still behind.

"Raven," he asked while stilling leaning forward, "what are you waiting for?"

She hesitated and motioned towards the train. "Keep going. I'll be right there." Raven turned in place and hastily flew towards the right wall, abruptly stopping before thick glass.

"Hello, Miss." Raven inwardly smiled at the young ticket booth operator behind the glass. "D-Do you need to inspect the tunnels again?"

"No, Esther," Raven answered, "I actually need one ticket this time."

She squinted in confusion. "I thought each of you Titans had like... lotsa cars to drive and stuff..."

"Yeah, they're all in the shop right now," Raven deadpanned.

"Oh... right..." She clicked a button the keyboard before her and a thin slip of paper emerged from the counter before her. Esther grabbed the paper and tore it from the top. Slipping it through a crack in the bottom of the glass, she smiled and nodded. "Have a nice night."

Raven grabbed the ticket and subtly grimaced. "We'll see how that works out..."

She floated back to the empty subway station floor, pleasantly noticing the complete lack of homeless men. "Probably ate each other," she muttered to herself.

Passing over the passenger counter, she fit the slip of paper into the crack in the metal rectangle and rejoined Robin next to the subway train.

He eyed her curiously.

"Legal matters," she answered without waiting for the question.

A muffled laugh escaped his throat as he turned back to the subway train in front of him. The open doors revealed a train relatively empty of passengers: twenty-seven people sat in the seats spread among the entire length of the five cars of the subway train.

"One minute."

Robin stepped forward into the train and discretely stood near the door for a long moment before gently squatting and releasing the suitcase up against the metal frame of a seat.

A light chime sounded gently through the underground subway station. The two Titans watched from beside the train as the doors closed and it slowly jerked back to life. Slowly gaining speed, the train rolled away until the back window disappeared into the shadows of the tunnel.

Robin raised the communicator to his face.

"Starfire, it's headed your way."

—

_**10:20 pm**_

"I should've guessed."

The edges of the lot were a rough gray, a concrete floor covered in layers of debris. Starting in a wide crater in the center of the black lot, ash lay on the floor radiating out like a black circle that reached out to the edges of the area.

"Dude, how'd we get back here?"

Somehow, the scene of our first physical brawl of the day looked radically different under the pale glow of partial moonlight; across the lot, the two large tanks that leaned against the brick wall cast long and blurred shadows that reached out towards us in ominous threat.

"How are we gonna find anything in this mess?" Beast Boy continued. "It's like looking for hay in a needle stack!"

"Don't sweat it, man..." Cyborg took several steps forward while staring at a screen on his forearm. "...This nest is bigger than the others: its heat signature is a lot more noticeable." He looked up, pointed towards the faraway building, and smiled widely. "Especially when you have a cyborg that can count the hairs on a flea across a football field."

He walked away towards the two cylindrical tanks.

"Umm... I don't think fleas have hair..." Beast Boy jumped forward and followed after him without hesitation.

I slowly followed them across the ashen floor, stepping on sizable chunks of concrete as I passed by the hole in the floor opened by the explosion Firefly and Killer Moth had set off earlier.

I reached Cyborg and Beast Boy and found them staring intently at the enormous tanks standing next to the building.

Cyborg pointed the ground beneath them.

"There."

—

_**10:22 pm**_

With the exception of the booth off to the side, the entire station was motionless. Nobody moved; nobody breathed; nobody was in plain sight in the subway station. In the far wall opposite the ticket booth, the offices of the station provided the only active light in the room. Wind swept in from the open stairs that led to the nighttime city.

_BEEEEEEP._

The tinny ring echoed through the station and a soft screech accompanied it from the deep inside the subway tunnel.

_BEEEEEEP._

"What's the matter?"

"_Robin, the subterranean locomotive has not yet arrived._"

Silence.

"_What course of action should I take?_"

"Stay at the station... Don't go in after the train unless I give you the word."

"_Affirmative, I shall await your dictation. Starfire, away._"

Silence returned to the dormant station and the motionless balance reached its former state in seconds. Tension grew almost visibly as the seconds ticked by on the large digital clock that hung over the entrance to the station.

A minute passed in silence.

Then another.

Then...

_Click._

The door to the offices of the station abruptly swung open, revealing two well-dressed men in urgent conversation. Their voices were low and hurried; the younger of the two seemed more like he was giving a report than conversing with the older one.

An expensive receptor amplified the words being exchanged...

"—_our_ minutes behind?"

"It may only be an elementary malfunction..."

"No, it can't. Standard procedure dictates that the conductor has to radio in immediately; there has been no such call of distress from any train in the last hour."

They rigidly stood outside the office with the look of concern growing deeper every moment they continued speaking.

Across the room, a masked boy dropped from the ceiling.

Robin landed gently and spun around to face the subway track. Raven floated down silently as he suddenly took off in a dead sprint towards the shadowed tunnel where the train had left earlier.

Raven followed from above. "Aren't we supposed to be waiting for them in the station?"

"Don't need to," he answered, "Firefly and Killer Moth aren't going to get the money at a station." Robin leaped from the platform and landed on the floor immediately beside it. "They're going for the suitcase right when the train is most vulnerable..."

He sprinted into the tunnel and whipped out his communicator.

"...between stations."

—

It was like seeing an ant carrying a human.

His jaw was set squarely and his eyes were narrow slits; his chest was leaned forward and his arms were extended backward to the metal cylinder that lazily rested its elephant-like weight in his robotic back.

The green gorilla carried his own tank in a deathgrip leaned across his chest and over his broad shoulder; each step he took brought a full and somewhat merry grunt from somewhere deep within him.

And I suddenly felt extremely weak in comparison.

My revelation was cut unexpectedly short by a sudden tremor in the earth.

I whipped around and saw Beast Boy leaning on a fallen tank.

He laughed nervously, "I hope whatever's in there wasn't fragile..."

"It's not about it being fragile," Cyborg grunted, sliding the large metal cylinder from his back and erect onto the ground, "those moths are highly explosive and highly unpredictable; if anything in the tanks is flammable, we could have a crazy fire on our hands."

"Uh, right..." Beast Boy simpered.

We stepped forward to the area on the floor where the tanks formerly stood and stared at the two large gray circles of clean concrete they had left behind. Cyborg walked directly atop one of the circles,

He raised a leg high up to his chest.

And slammed onto the floor.

Beneath his metal boot, the concrete cracked and jaggedly broke into uneven pieces of rubble.

Cyborg smiled. "Let's get diggin'."

—

They cut through the darkness with each stride, blindly darting towards the unknown goal. Robin sprinted in the black of the tunnel, his legs reaching out with every stride and grinding into the floor as he sprung forward, his eyes squinting for vision in the bright light of the small flashlight held between his thumb and first knuckle. The darker silhouette of a raven glided on the ceiling, matching his speed and keeping an all-seeing eye out for oncoming danger.

Two minutes in the darkness.

A pinprick of white.

"Light ahead."

The microscopic pixel grew larger.

And larger.

The glow of the light expanded, radiating from a central structure and reaching towards the incoming pair of heroes. The figure slowly took shape in the distance, gaining a smooth, glinting, rectangular body.

Raven dropped to the floor with her hood low on her eyes. "At least we found the metro..." She leaned forward and stared at the track as Robin raced past her to the front of the train. "...And apparently we weren't the first ones..."

She stepped forward and slipped through the back emergency exit of the subway train. Emerging silently on the other side, she took a quick survey of the scene.

The few people that were on the train were absolutely silent.

In the closest seat to her, a small woman huddled with her hands around two quiet little girls; diagonally from her, a man in a used blue suit sat motionless with the knuckles of his right hand white from holding onto a pole beside him.

Raven floated past, eying each passenger discretely and methodically, moving steadily towards the front of the train.

The remaining people held themselves in the same fashion, holding the nearest thing to them.

And no one looked back up to her.

"—and then we just lost power."

She looked away from the last of the passengers as she passed into the conductor's quarters; Robin and Starfire stood there beside a well-dressed man who delivered his words quickly and assuredly.

"Somehow the magnetism of the track must have been damaged or disabled because we began to lose momentum." The man glanced at Raven as she entered and continued talking: "Then, an explosion just went off underneath the train. I immediately reached for the brake, but it wasn't working because of the interference in the track. I went for the manual brake and barely managed to get us to stop without falling off the track."

"Your reaction may have saved many lives," Starfire assured him.

Robin turned, caught sight of Raven, and nodded.

"No physical damage," Raven answered. "Most of them are pretty shaken, but it's nothing therapy won't be able to fix."

"Great," Robin confirmed, "then let's stay here meanwhile help comes and keep on eye on the suitc—"

The subway conductor physically interrupted the instructions. "Wait, there's more." The Titans reaffirmed their focus on the man while he continued hurriedly. "After we came to a standstill, I heard the type of commotion you could expect in this type of situation for a good couple of seconds in the rest of the train. Then, a crash came from the back and I heard everyone get silent."

He pointed at the door that separated his quarters from the rest of the subway. "I crept up and looked in through the window." He paused for breath and continued. "Some guy was standing at one of the entrances He was wearing a silver full-body suit with folded metallic wings and was waving around some sort of modified handgun while he apparently gave directions to the passengers. I don't know exactly what he said—the door muffled most of it—but he didn't seem to actually attack anyone. He just finished his speech and left."

Robin was already at the door of the quarters; he paused slightly when crossing the threshold. "How long ago did he leave?"

The conductor inhaled deeply. "I'd say... about a minute ago."

"Good."

Robin turned again and darted out of the nearest door of the subway while shouting directions behind him. "They must have taken the suitcase directly from the subway when they stopped it. We need to go after them right now, but we can't leave these people completely defenseless. Starfire, I need you to stay here to protect the passengers in case they decide to return until help arrives. After that, join us through the path we're about to take now."

"Raven..." She appeared behind him and hurried forward to catch up with him. "I need you to show me exactly where you found the pyromoth nest."

—

We were surrounded on all non-walled sides by giant dirt mounds.

Beast Boy launched a continuous cascade of dirt between his legs like an odd television animation of a large canine. Beside him, Cyborg worked furiously, scooping up several head-sized dirt clods every second.

And I... dug as quickly as I could with my hands.

Our quick breathing formed a rhythm as we continued our labor in the pit; we had worked nonstop since arriving, and the hole was almost a meter deep.

Still, we found no signs of a nest.

Beast Boy transformed into his natural state and breathed in deeply. "Cyborg, are you sure we're diggin' in the right place?"

"Look, the scanners picked up _something_ that left a small but distinct heat trail. It hasn't been wrong before, you think it's gonna start now?"

I listened to the conversation while continuing my graceful clawing at the dirt. Reaching a stone, I brush away the surrounding dirt and pulled it out from the ground.

"Well, I don't see any big nasty moths flametorching the place, do you?"

I reached beneath the rock and touched the soil; a red residue covered my fingertips.

"Maybe we just haven't reached it yet. Ya thought of _that_ yet?"

"I believe I found something..."

"Hey! Are you calling me dumb?"

"...Titans, this might be useful..."

"I don't know. Do you need me to spell it out for you?"

"...Titans, this might―"

"Why don't you go ahead, since I couldn't figure it out ON MY OWN anyway!"

"...Titans..."

"We're wasting time! We shouldn't be arguing, we should be looking for the seventh ne―"

"We would be if you weren't being such a jack―"

"_TITANS!_"

"**WHAT?**"

I sighed and translated what I wanted to say next. "There's something there you probably want to see."

Beast Boy and Cyborg followed my hand to the ground: a large circle of wet red dirt surrounded the area where I stood.

Beast Boy kneeled down and dug up a handful of the crimson soil and smiled sheepishly.

"Okay... so maybe you were right."

―

The sewer lid blew completely off, flying into the air and landing with a loud clank several yards away. An enormous black raven burst violently from the open manhole and dissipated into the night sky.

Robin leaped from the hole and landed kneeling in the middle of the street. "They're going to be close by."

Raven took several tentative steps forward. "In fact..." Her eyes ran across the shadowed faces of buildings in search of something specific. "...there."

Her finger led to an alleyway directly across from them.

Two human silhouettes stepped forward from the shadows, revealing themselves in plain sight.

"Congratulations on the eyesight," Killer Moth replied, his hand drifting to the whip at his side, "but that's where your good luck ends for the day."

Robin slowly paced behind Raven and muttered, "Keep an eye on the flamethrower, I'll take out Moth."

She nodded without reply and stared dead ahead.

The two villains, visually exposed by glow of the street lamps and the glare of gaudy building lights, advanced towards the Titans in full armor with their weapons at ready access. Firefly leered to the left as his hand caressed the handle of the black handgun at his hip. Killer Moth mirrored his actions to the right with the coil of metal-tipped leather.

Robin cautiously turned to face his opponent, leaving his back against Raven as she mimicked his stance.

Their steps echoed dully through the empty street as each one waited for the opponent to make the first move.

Stillness.

Silence.

Tension.

_Click._

The flames shot out from the barrel in a wide stream of searing heat.

The whip lashed forward, slicing the nighttime air.

Raven lifted her hands to catch the flames.

Robin dropped into a crouch and narrowly avoided the whip.

But it cut forward past him...

...and lashed around Raven's outstretched hand from behind.

"What the—"

The rope suddenly jerked back, and she found herself flung completely around onto the floor.

"Raven!" Robin leaned forward to defend her, and barely caught sight of the red stream headed right towards his own body.

He ducked into his cape and dove backwards, feeling the searing heat leak through his makeshift shield. He hit the floor and skid back on the pavement as he unfurled his cape. Leaping back to his feet, Robin bolted towards Raven; she levitated to her feet and stood rigidly with balled fists and clenched teeth.

A lamppost came crashing down in the road between the two villains and the two Titans. Shattered glass flew through the air as the bulb flashed and burned out in the middle of the street.

"Playtime."

The lamp snaked across the floor and swung at the villains in wide and low arc. Killer Moth barreled sideways over the sweep as Firefly leaped high and took to the skies.

A trashcan followed him upwards.

He brandished his gun and shot it down, only to find a park bench tearing through the air towards him.

"You don't have enough hands to shoot them all down." Raven hovered in the air, eyes solid white and palms facing Firefly.

He dropped down to avoid the bench... and caught the length of a street lamp in the ribs. He flew back and brushed against the side of a building before regaining his aerial balance; he smoothly slid the gun into his side holster with one hand and held the other behind his back. "I don't need them..."

His hand reappeared swinging towards Raven.

**BOOM!**

She barely raised a dark shield in time to deflect the blast of the grenade.

"Cause I have more than enough firepower to make up for it!"

Another grenade hit the floor in front of Raven, launching a fiery blow to her barrier; she closed her eyes and physically strained against two explosions that immediately followed. A blast from behind caught her off guard and unexpectedly threw her forward onto the ground.

Landing roughly, she shot a look back up to the sky... and saw three grenades falling directly towards her.

A red disk flew above her, dragging a small net that barely scooped the grenades out of the air and into an alleyway.

**BOOOOM!**

Charred newspapers and burning trash flew from the alley as Robin yelled to Raven: "Are you alright?"

A kick to the back prevented him from receiving her answer.

"It's not wise to leave yourself exposed." Killer Moth laughed beneath his mask. "Don't you know that?"

Robin jumped to his feet and lowered himself into a fighting stance. "It's not wise to mess with the Titans or their city." He advanced steadily on the villain. "You're about to find that out."

He attacked high with an aerial sidekick. Killer Moth reacted falteringly, barely throwing himself down in time to avoid being decapitated. The kick carried Robin past his target; he landed and spun around with a closed fist.

Killer Moth easily blocked the blow with a one hand, and threw his own counterattack with the other. The punch broke the air directly beside Robin's head; the odor of rubber and smoke hung right beneath his nose as the arm swung past his face.

He dropped and spun on the floor with an outstretched leg. The trip connected flawlessly and toppled Moth onto his back; he followed through the motion and jumped into the air.

Killer Moth, landing on his back, faced the incoming metal-rimmed boot and quickly rolled away, madly scrambling for his feet.

The downward kick struck the floor as Killer Moth stood to his feet.

"Give it up, Moth," Robin challenged as he jumped forward, bo staff swinging through the air.

"Not if my life depended on it."

The staff sliced sideways, clipping his arm.

"There's no way you two will get away with this."

Moth lunged forward, forcing the fight into a close-range brawl. Robin spun the staff, blocking the hail of swipes as best he could, all the while continuing conversation.

"There's no need to. You won't catch me: not today, not ever."

Block.

"Oh, really? There's a team of five of us that says differently."

Slash.

Dodge.

"This far beyond you and your band of make-believe heroes."

Swipe.

Flinch.

"Stop bluffing."

Punch.

Block.

Lunge.

Jump.

Swing... Air.

"Believe me: outside forces are in motion."

Swing.

Catch.

"Unseen forces."

Twist.

Throw.

"Mighty forces."

Robin fell through the air and landed on his feet in the dead center of the street, skidding to a stop several feet away. Raven descended next to him from the sky, hands ablaze with dark power.

Across the street, Firefly rejoined Killer Moth and faced down the two Titans.

"Enough."

Robin stepped forward. "We're just getting started."

Firefly lifted his arm and pointed a finger. "Stay put. Don't move an inch past that sidewalk."

"Or what?"

"Your precious city gets burned alive by our hybrids."

Robin flipped open his communicator and loudly spoke into it. "Cyborg, report."

A loud hissing sound filled the background.

"_Seventh nest... destroyed._"

Robin smiled and faced the two distant villains. "It's too late, Bugs. Your plan is ruined, each of the nests has been found and disabled. And there's nothing standing between you two and nice, long prison terms at the local penitentiary."

"Wrong again, Titan." Firefly and Killer Moth stood firmly on the pavement as a car barreled past. The wind pulled at their suits as Killer Moth continued. "We still retain the upper hand."

"What do you have, Moth?"

Raven stopped levitating and dropped to her feet, eyes wide open. "A nest."

Robin turned to her with bewilderment.

"What?"

"Nice job, witch," Firefly answered. "nothing gets past you..."

The sarcasm crept in his voice. "Except this."

"You may have destroyed the city's nests," Killer Moth explained, pulling out a small cylinder from behind, "but there's still one left. A gift really, from us to you."

"Where?" Robin demanded, fists curled.

"Right under your dang noses."

Silence.

The two criminals turned and faced away. Robin followed the villains' gaze to the sea beside the city... or rather, the island in the middle of it.

"The Tower."

"Exactly."

Killer Moth laughed aloud.

"So you have a decision: either you stay here and possibly take us in..." His finger rested lazily for a moment on the red button at the top of the device, then dropped heavily onto the trigger. "...or you can save your tower and possibly the city."

The earth trembled slightly as an explosion echoed in the background.

"What's it going to be?"

Raven stoically floated beside the Boy Wonder, searching his face for a reaction.

He didn't blink.

Silence.

He stepped onto the road.

"We'll get you. Maybe not today, but soon."

Robin turned.

"Sooner than you know."

He sprinted away.


	13. Crossbreeds Unravel

I couldn't see a single thing. I couldn't hear anything either, but that had more to do with my hands being clamped over my ears. Without even opening my eyes, I knew the air was filled with fine dust and smoke; I could feel it scraping and falling against my skin like liquid wallpaper. Crouching against the brick wall behind me, I managed to open an eye.

It wasn't as bad as I thought.

Granted: smoke was blotting out the sky; every tree within a seventy meter radius had been charred; I couldn't even _see_ Cyborg or Beast Boy; and the dust in air was asphyxiating, but... overall, I didn't see any problems.

"DAMN IT, BEAST BOY!"

No problems at all.

I squinted and barely made out a bulky figure plowing through the aerial net of dust and smoke. A white circle suddenly glowed into view on his shoulder and the beam of light cut through the fog like a proverbial knife. I slowly rocked onto my feet and stepped into the dissipating cloud.

"WHAT DID I SAY?"

I could only cough and shield my eyes as Cyborg continued marching until he was standing next to me. I stared behind covered eyes while he stood perfectly unaffected in the dying haze.

He finally seemed to notice me. "Hyper Respiratory Filtration System."

I smiled weakly between the hands rubbing my eyes and pretended that I understood what he meant.

"BEAST BOY!"

"What?"

I stumbled forward, reacting to the sudden voice behind me and taking in a healthy gulp of smoke and airborne dust. Beast Boy emerged from behind me with a pair of blue-lensed goggles on his eyes and a silly grin on his face.

I gave my eyes a final rub. "Where did those come from?"

He shrugged. "I always keep 'em handy..."

"One thing! I said not to do **one** **thing**," Cyborg yelled. "And what was it?"

Amidst the final clearing dust from the sky, Beast Boy nervously laughed. "Roughhandle the tanks?"

"Roughhandle the tanks!"

I threw a quick glance over the lot: the ground—which had once been a dusty gray color—was now blacker than sin; it was difficult to tell exactly where it ended and the night sky began. The only other objects were two torn metal structures that rested on opposite ends of the flamed lot, near the black stumps that were formerly trees. Heat trails rose from the seared walls of the tanks and leaked into a rapidly forming smoke stream into the sky. Gentle fires littered the lot as dying testament of the previous... experience.

"You know that was oxygen right?"

Beast Boy looked away and shrugged.

"You know how explosive oxygen is?"

"I believe we all do now," I answered while slowly edging away.

"Hey!" he countered. "I destroyed the hatching moths didn't I?"

"Yeah and you also burned off our eyebrows in the process!" Cyborg retorted wide-eyed.

"I got the job done..."

"What you did was release the moths in the first place."

Beast Boy faced Cyborg suddenly. "Whoa! How was I supposed to know the moths were gonna break through as we were digging the nest up? _I_ was doing _my _part to finish the mission, and the stupid things got in the way."

"...So you threw the tank at them?"

I couldn't help but smile as I walked in the distance.

"If the oxygen had been purer, the flames of the moths could've blown up this entire building and taken us with—"

_BEEEEEEP._

"_Cybo... repor..._"

He raised his arm and flipped open the monitor to reveal Robin's distracted face. "The seventh nest is destroyed beyond any possible hope of repair."

_BEEEEEEP._

I walked up to the enormous gaping hole adjacent to the black brick wall of the building. Where gnashing teeth and fluttering wings had been only moments before, laid black, charred remnants of life and gray, unmoving ashes. There was no sign that anything had ever hatched there.

Problem solved.

Cyborg lowered his arm and looked back to Beast Boy, whose wistful attention was intently fixed on rocks beside his foot. "Listen, let's just get outta here..." He ambled away towards the general direction of the car; I followed suit and made my way towards it, as well.

_BEEEEEEP._

Cyborg's communicator was up and open before it stopped its first ring. "What's up?"

Raven's voice answered from the other side of the line. "_We need all of you at the Tower, now._"

Cyborg sped up. "What, why?"

"_It's under attack._"

"By Firefly and Killer Moth?"

"_By pyromoths._"

I ducked into the door and slammed the door behind me.

"We just took the last nest out."

"_They had one hidden up their sleeve._"

"Where?"

"_At the Tower. Raven, out._"

The T-Car roared to life as Cyborg jumped in. Through the windshield, I could see Beast Boy flapping furiously away into the sky. The clutch clicked into first and the wheels squealed as we shot out of the lot, adding more heat and burned rubber to the site of combusted decimation. Cyborg muttered under his breath. "Really need to update that security..."

In the side mirror, I caught sight of dirt and gravel flying back from the rear tires as the car merged into the gravel road and took off.

"Hello?"

I turned to see a microphone extended from his ear, hanging before his jaw.

"Yes, there's a burn site in a lot on the outskirts." He paused and apparently listened to something on the other end. "On the service road offa 101 past Richar—"

Pause.

"Yes, that's it. There's not too much of a threat left, mainly just clean-up."

I heard a soft buzz flowing from his ear.

"Yeah, thanks."

The thin rod slowly retracted into the concealed half of his face and we continued speeding along the pathway in total silence. I rested comfortably in the leather seat, cultivating the hush until finally asking the question on my mind.

"Janitorial service?"

Cyborg shrugged as he stole a quick look to left for incoming cars. "You could call it that."

The car merged onto a better quality road running parallel to a wider series of roads.

I faltered a bit, but continued. "... A janitorial service that receives Titan funding?"

He smiled widely.

"Someday, Mika..."

—

The car rocketed down the adequately paved road until it hit the ramp onto the major highway. Even from a kilometer away, the customized license plate—"71N M4N"—was clearly readable; every speck of dirt on the front hood was perfectly visible—perfectly visible to a bird's eye.

A green peregrine falcon soared high above the city, interchanging current glides and speeding dives; the falcon swiftly cut through the air, keeping one close eye on the speeding car below it and the other on the dark shadow of a 'T' that stood lit up by random lights in the middle of the inlet.

He rapidly flapped his green wings, rising above an oncoming building, and stared back down at the highway. Even in the stark darkness of night, the falcon could individually identify each car on the highway below him with moderate ease.

The falcon watched as the T-Car slipped into a neighboring lane; it shot off and left an angry Ferrari honking at empty exhaust. The T-Car growled as it made its way through a mass movement of relatively slow cars... until it swung into an empty lane beside two adjacent eighteen-wheelers and visibly shifted into high gear.

Beast Boy saw it coming.

From a ramp hidden by an overgrowth of trees, another eighteen-wheeler with a colorful hamburger advertisement barreled onto the highway, cutting off the T-Car and nearly sandwiching it into the next trailer over.

The car slammed on the brakes and swerved wildly.

Falcon eyes watched through the windshield as Cyborg fought for control.

After a split second, all cars—T-Car included—resumed normal flow and drove on as usual.

Beast Boy watched Cyborg's narrowed eyes and wild lips. He didn't need to be in the car to know exactly the words he was shouting at the top of his lungs.

And for the first time in history, a falcon smiled.

—

Pale red ooze exploded all over the ground.

Robin lowered the bo staff and stepped right into the middle of the puddle. His eyes were glued to the sight before him: moths.

Lots of them.

Half of the moths covered the base, while the other half swarmed around the rest of the tower.

"There's no way three of us can destroy all of those," Raven muttered. She raised her hands and shot two pyromoths out of the sky with spears of black energy; they exploded into a flurry of more red slime.

"That's why _we're_ here."

We leaped over the rocks on the shoreline and joined Raven and Robin as they stood away from the mass swarm around the tower.

Starfire floated in from above and shot off a starbolt into a nearby moth, blowing it into plentiful red muck. "Perhaps together we can rid the island of these winged beasts."

Beast Boy nodded his head. "Nope, there's too many of 'em. And besides, look..." All eyes turned to watch as a single pyromoth broke off and slowly drifted away from the island. "They're leaving the tower," Beast Boy continued. "If they get out, we'll never be able to get all of them!"

"Not exactly..." Cyborg stepped forward.

Robin nodded: "Let's hear it, Cyborg."

"We need to deal with the ones here first; I think I have something that may take out all of the ones that stay. It's a sonic emitter similar in design to my own cannon. Bad news is... it's gonna take a little bit of time to assemble and prepare, and _somebody's_ gonna have to fight them off."

Cyborg shifted his glance to each of our faces. "Titan Tower is flame resistant..." A light illuminated brightly from above, and we collectively looked up to see a ball of flames the size of a car smash into the side of the tower. "...but it's not fire-proof. They keep going on like that uninterrupted and the whole thing will be ablaze in a few hours."

"Right." Everyone's attention snapped back to Robin. "Cyborg, get in the Tower, make sure no pyromoths follow you in, and get whatever it is you have started up."

"Gotcha."

"Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy, you guys take care of the highest moths and Mika and I will take the ones down here. Remember, they're out of the explosive nests, so hold no firepower back." He turned and raised the bo staff up to his chest.

"Titans, go!"

Everyone shot away into separate directions as the lights around the tower glowed in response; the heat spiked as Robin and I ran forward. I neared a pair of distracted moths and dug into my satchel. I lobbed two glittering spheres forward and sent a medium-sized splash of red splattering into the tower wall.

And then—as if for the first time noticing us—the entire fleet of pyromoths at the base of the tower turned and faced us. Wings fluttering madly, pincers squeezing in anticipation, and eyes glistening in their own pale radiance, they paused and stared us down.

Robin moved beside me. He cast a comment my way. "Don't stop until Cyborg gets his weapon out here."

Needless to say, such words of reassurance did much to comfort my anxieties.

Somewhere in the pack of moths, a wing suddenly beat out of synchronization with the rest.

"Go!"

I whipped my nunchaka out and swung at the nearest moth.

—

Cyborg charged from behind me and ran past Robin, swatting away at nearby moths and looking somewhat demented. He elbowed a pyromoth in his way into red goop and flung out his right arm, shooting down two more before moving behind a large rock. He rested a metallic hand on the rock and braced his feet against the solid floor; the flock of pyromoths at the base of the tower was dense and offered little room for stealthy intrusion. The red robotic eye scanned the mass surrounding the path to the entrance and displayed schematics that only Cyborg could see.

Suddenly, he crouched slightly lower and took off, sprinting into the flying mob.

The moths instantly turned and snarled at the incoming Titan; their mandibles sprung open in complete synchronization and a light red glow gathered rapidly at their bared teeth.

A sonic shot was already in the air.

The wave tore three moths out of the air and knocked several off balance, yet the horde of moths remained completely undamaged. Mobs of the moths surged forward...

...and met two well-shot scatter missiles. The projectiles broke into various pieces in the air and each one let loose an explosion that temporarily shrouded the base of the Tower in smoke.

Cyborg rushed past the blinded moths, looking through the smoke with the same cybernetic eye, and rounded the corner towards the Tower's entrance.

A stream of flames suddenly blocked his path.

"Aw, c'mon..."

Looking to the side, he spied a flock of moths as stunned to see him as he was to see them; they immediately ceased tearing away at the front door and directed their attention toward him.

Cyborg swung his arm forward and found the flaming stream headed directly towards him. Flames licked the solid metal wall as he dropped to the ground and aimed the cannon at the horde; a second barrage of fire flew towards him and forced him to roll away. Immediately, the moths swept in with spread wings and mouths poised to unleash the last rivers of fire.

A green explosion abruptly interrupted them.

"Cyborg," Starfire stated with worried eyes, "I hope I did not interfere with your 'whooping' of the buttock?"

He quickly rose to his feet and wiped imaginary dirt from his cannon. "Nah... I really had it under control, but... um, yeah. Thanks for the hand, Star."

She smiled widely. "You are most welcome! Now let us return to—"

A swarm of pyromoths blindsided her in the air like a steaming locomotive.

"Starfire!" Cyborg unleashed a wave and tore off a pair of moths from her torso.

"Do not worry, continue the mission as Robin instructed and we will attend to these creatures!" She sharply halted mid-air with the string of moths still attacking and violently spun about, flinging the insects in every direction.

Cyborg turned to the door and palmed the pad beside it. A green line glowed from the screen and scanned his palm, interfacing with his systems and checking his electronic signature. He glanced behind at the growing battle on the ground and sky, madly tapping his left foot and clenching his free hand.

_BWOOP._

The pad glowed red and he quickly removed his hand from the screen; an alphanumeric grid overtook the screen and a strong electronic voice flowed from the panel.

"Countersign."

Robotic fingers danced over the digital keypad, entering a flurry of letters; he finished and pressed a red button at the bottom of the screen.

"Countersign accepted. Entry granted."

Steam hissed from the hinges, a brass 'T' that adorned the center of the door rotated to its side, and the heavy door swung open inwards. Cyborg stepped through and looked back once more.

Translucent wings obscured his vision.

A large body and six thin legs slammed into his face and knocked off his feet. Cyborg hit the floor and immediately scrambled to his knees. The trail of a red glow disappeared into the shadows of the Tower's main foyer.

"Oh no, you _didn't_..."

Cyborg jumped to his feet and scanned the vanishing heat trail.

Another pyromoth dove in towards the entrance with its teeth bared. The moth opened its jaws and prepared a blast of fire.

Cyborg swung his arm around backwards and fired without turning to look.

The moth exploded into crimson slime as the wave tore it completely apart.

"You're gonna pay, little bugger."

He reached for the door, took a step forward, and slammed it shut behind him.

—

The roof was ablaze with activity. Pyromoths tore away at the metallic plating of the tower while fire loosened the defenses. A single moth clung onto the wall with its stream of flames pounding away at the area in front of it. The metal glowed a dull red color as it slowly grew weaker and lost durability. After a second, it fell from its firm shape and began separating from the wall.

The moth quickly reared back and gave itself enough room to slam into the sheet and tear it off the wall; it shot forward and zipped through the air towards the metal plating.

Talons intercepted and tore it in half in the air.

The green eagle banked in the air and slowed to a stop. His eyes gleamed in the moonlight as he scanned over the infested airspace; the eagle dipped forward and skimmed over the roof. Beast Boy landed on the roof and skid to a stop.

"There's too many of them. We can't take all of them down!"

A black spear pierced a moth that floated nearby. "We don't have to," Raven answered calmly, "we just have to get them..." A large black hand materialized from the roof and scraped a group of moths off the wall. "..._off_ the Tower."

Each moth simultaneously stopped their fire and rose from the roof of the Tower.

An antenna on the roof grew dark and suddenly broke off; it flew into the air and floated beside Raven. "I'm sure the tower doesn't really need this..." She faced the moths with open hands.

A random insect shot toward her.

The antenna slashed it in half before it even got close.

She eyed the rest of the flock. "Anyone else?"

Part of the swarm surged forward.

Light danced as the flexible rod whipped around, reflecting moonlight with every slash. Raven stood absolutely firm with three eyes keeping watch around her. Pale red goo rained down as moths dived in and met the lash of the black antenna.

Four insects dove in from opposing sides with a cry of fiery anger.

The black staff shot to the right and struck the moth into the ground; it swung back around and slashed through another as it impaled the third. The antenna flung forward and smacked the fourth one off-balance; it caught it in the air and flogged it down into the roof.

Raven smirked and looked back around her.

Hordes of pyromoths surrounded her on all sides.

"What I would do for a can of Raid..."

The sides of the encirclement caved in and moths pressed forward with screeching fury. The antenna shot around, whipping everything in sight while Raven's right hand flung spears of black force at the collapsing ambush. A fiery glow appeared in the front line as Raven shot the pole into the crowd and threw herself to the roof of the tower below her. The mob of moths closed in and flames roared wildly in the center of the mass.

Raven slowly emerged from the floor behind the crowd, rapidly moving her hands and slashing away at the stragglers. The numbers grew thinner as the antenna drew a whirlwind of red goo and small fires. She continued working at the moths until a large fluttering cloud appeared from behind her.

Three starbolts shot down from above.

Few moths in the ambushing group blew away and Starfire watched Raven continue swinging with the long black sword as she flew over with charging starbolts on both hands. Her attention diverted back to the moths that erratically shot around the night sky before her, leaving only light trails of smoke to follow.

Starbolts flew across the sky as Starfire gave chase and aimed at the speeding moths. The wind whipped about powerfully as bolt after bolt flew past the tens of moths that flew away. Finally, she halted in the air with a faint cry of frustration and brought her hands together; the pyromoths curved around the sky on the way back to attack a lower region of the Tower.

"Continue flying, please..."

The insects dove in like fighter pilots with their mouths open and eager for a piece of the tower and the delicious prize that lay inside.

Instead, at five meters from the wall they met a baby elephant-sized starbolt.

"Victory!" Starfire plunged into the explosion with a renewed expression of determination and flung a flurry of starbolts at the bewildered hordes of insects. "Remove your mandibles from our Tower!"

The green energy smashed into the attacking moths and cleared away areas of the Tower, but as soon as the areas cleared, more moths came to take their place and shot out towards their attacker. A rush of flames struck her on the side, knocking her away in the air.

Starfire twisted mid-air and regained balance; she brushed her side off and found no immediate damage. Her eyes widen in horror as she abruptly noticed smoke rising from part of her hair.

Another squadron of moths swooped in from her right and opened fire.

She dodged sideways and dove with an intense, renewed fire in her eyes, sweeping in close to the moths and swinging her hand like a mace. The nearest moth suddenly found the Tamaranian fist inside of its abdomen; with the flick of a wrist, the moth fell away and the punch found its place on the side of another moth's head.

Starfire kicked forward and felt the crunch of a cracking exoskeleton on her foot; a starbolt quickly finished off the injured moth.

She spun around with glowing hands and unexpectedly found a flurry of jaw, claw, and wing directly in front of her face.

"Eeeeek!" Her high-pitched cry was followed by a large starbolt.

Starfire slowly reopened her eyes and caught the last of a hailstorm of ooze plummeting downwards. Her eyes gradually reached her outstretched hands and noticed the solid layer of sickly red moth innards that covered her entire upper torso. She slowly reached her hand up to her face and wiped away the gunk from her moth.

Starfire paused and delicately dipped her index finger into her mouth; her eyebrows furrowed deliberately as she sampled it.

Suddenly, her eyes violently shot open and her face twisted as she gagged. "How greatly unpleasant!" she coughed as her eyes watered. "It tastes o-of... of... of Evil!"

The last of the red goo rained down heavily, but even through the downpour, I could clearly see Starfire's contorted facial expression. I couldn't help but think of pizza...

A sudden flash brought my attention back to the ground floor fight: fire streamed past my face as I dropped to the floor and rolled away. I jumped up with the feel of heat and smoke still on my cheek and faced the scattered moths before me.

Leaping forward, I brought down a moth and sharply kicked it away. My right arm lashed out to the side and slammed the nunchaka into a moth's head, giving me barely enough time and room to regain my sense of balance.

Pyromoths around me let go of pieces of the tower and took to the sky toward me; my hand shot into my bag, paused only a second, and dug out a handful of metal and traded it over to the other hand before grabbing another fistful.

And target practice began.

I lunged forward and rolled off two balls on my left hand. My right hand darted out, tossing out three additional ones; by then, my left hand already had more ammo in its palm.

Metal spheres flew consistently.

One shot to the left.

Three shots to the right.

Two to the left.

One to the distant right.

Four, left.

Two, right.

One to the far left.

Two to the close right.

With every explosion of a moth, three more seemed to spring up and take its place; at that rate, I knew they would overtake me in under a minute. I redoubled efforts and shot faster, leaving balls of glittering metal dashing everywhere and lighting up the night sky when they connected and blew flame and goo to the ground.

I suddenly noticed a beeping disk join my spheres in the air; it hit a mass of pyromoths and erupted into a parasitic ice growth that engulfed the surround insects and sealed them in an icy tomb.

"Thought you might need a hand," Robin casually said, landing beside me and brandishing his bo staff.

I nodded in response, though I knew I probably could have found a way out myself...

I whipped out the nunchaka and held it taut as a new wave of pyromoths advanced toward us again.

Robin gripped the bo staff tighter.

"I _really_ hope Cyborg gets that thing working soon..."

—

Absolute darkness.

Black overtook everything; the only light that reached the inside was the occasional red or green glow through the windows. Architecture, furniture, and machinery took the form of creeping adversity as shadows laid a blanket over every room. The darkness coupled with dead silence dominated the entire Tower.

"You're gonna wish I'd killed you with a flyswatter!"

_Click._

Light shattered the atmosphere, flooding the room with unbearable brilliance.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Cyborg jogged through the large hallway while his eyes roamed over every crevice in the room. "Heat signature. C'mon, heat signature..."

He reached the exit to the room just as his eyes rested on broken metal grating in the corner of the ceiling.

"Ventilation shaft. Escaping into the ventilation." He sighed and palmed the door. "I really need to update the tower security..."

The door hissed open and Cyborg stepped into the rectangular compartment, reached forward, and roughly keyed in commands. Small lights flashed in response, the doors closed, and the elevator sprang to life.

First floor.

He tapped his foot impatiently.

Second floor.

Cyborg opened the panel on his wrist and fiddled absentmindedly.

Third floor.

The light whirl of the elevator engine filled the tiny metal box.

Fourth floor.

He shuffled around as the elevator continued going up with its eerie buzz.

"Maybe we should install some music in here..."

_Ding._

The doors gradually split apart and revealed an empty room. Cyborg rushed to the next door, palmed the pad, and jogged through it into the Main Room. Motion sensors automatically lit the overhead lights as he ran past the kitchen and headed towards the residence hall.

A loud scrapping suddenly stole his attention.

He spun around and faced the far end of the room.

"Stay away from my window!"

Hundreds of moths crowded in front of the giant glass panel of the Main Room, madly scratching and baring their razor-sharp teeth in an attempt to burst through.

Cyborg ran to a computer and furiously typed in a series of commands. Harsh humming emanated from the wall as a titanium shell sprouted from the left on the outside of the tower and swiftly closed around the window.

Delirious cries rang faintly from the opposite side of the shield.

"That's right," Cyborg answered, "hands off the glass."

A piercing shriek echoed in the hallway to the right, suddenly stealing Cyborg's attention. He moved back toward the hallway bedrooms, tinkering with the controls at his wrist as he ran.

Slipping through the door, he simply shouted into the hallway.

"I would stay away from Raven's room if I were you."

—

Fire lashed out and burned a straight trail, forcing me sideways. I countered the attack with a thrusting punch; it connected and I felt the thorax membrane cave in under my fist. The moth's mandibles stretched beyond their limits and a shrill shriek escaped from deep within it.

Suddenly, a deep pulse visibly shook its body and traveled into my arm.

The lifeless carcass fell to the floor and I flexed my hand delicately.

Chemical energy...

My hand reached out and snatched a leg out of the air. The moth bucked wildly and screeched in protest. My fingers tightened their grip and I jerked the insect to the ground; it hit the floor and merely hobbled around as I clenched my hand.

They were like flying batteries.

The nunchaka caught another one in the air; I seized it by the hind legs and barely hesitated before tossing it into an oncoming swarm. They halted unexpectedly in the air and followed the crippled moth to the floor, crowding around the fallen comrade.

It looked like they hadn't eaten in weeks.

Robin rapidly sprinted across my path and disappeared to my right. My gaze followed him as I turned with confusion; I couldn't see exactly what he was... doing.

Without warning, a force smashed into my left shoulder and pitched me forward into an awkward somersault; I rolled to my legs and turned to see a violent current of screeching pyromoths speed past my former position.

He dashed toward the tower while dodging stray moths and avoiding airborne fire streams. He reached a wall and jumped forward, planting his right foot on the wall and kicking off into the air.

Moths dove forward with open jaws...

And Robin met them with a strong horizontal slash. The bo staff struck at the mass of insects gathered around him and tore away a circular clearing.

Without missing a beat, another attack came from the side; he caught it with the end of the staff and threw it back. The flock gave sharp cries of hunger and protest.

"Hurry it up, Cyborg..."

A single squirming insect dropped from the sky.

Robin eyed the moth curiously.

Two more fell beside it.

His gaze rose up to the sky.

A black antenna spun furiously in the sky like a dark saw blade and black arrows flashed rapidly through the sky. Raven's arms moved like hands of an erratic clock, directing unseen forces that fiercely shot moth after moth out of the air. She flashed a palm to her left and threw up a black shield just as a group of five moths unleashed a torrent of fire toward her.

Eyes narrowed and her hand clenched as the flames pounded against her defense.

Raven flew upwards with a grunt, dropped the screen, and flung the spinning antenna. It sliced through the attackers and rained a storm of pale red slime downward.

And the moths continued.

"These things won't stop," she shouted out between clenched teeth. "Where are they coming from?"

A fresh horde of pyromoths surged toward her in response.

—

"Maybe something soft: some light jazz or something," Cyborg mused.

Despite the calm speech, his feet shuffled hastily; his eyes wandered all around the empty metal walls; his breathing was deep and anxious. The hum and whirl of the sluggish elevator did nothing to ease his restlessness.

"Some time _today_..."

_DING._

Cyborg pried the doors open and rushed into the middle of the room. In the right corner, the T-Car stood parked at a slight angle that corresponded with black tire tracks on the floor; it gave off leftover warmth and retained a smell of fresh air and pine trees.

He ran past the car hoisting a giant cardboard box and slid to a stop at a large workbench.

"Need this, this, and... this." His hands scrambled below the desk surface and pulled odd shaped materials out of seemingly random boxes; he finished gathering the materials and placed them into the larger box he brought with him.

"And the I'll definitely need..." Cyborg reached to his lower torso and revealed an opening where his left kidney would have been. His hand reemerged with a glowing cerulean sphere. "..._this_."

The orb gently joined the other objects; Cyborg lifted the heavy weight of the cardboard box and quickly jogged away from the workstation. He left the T-Car and barely passed the R-Cycle before he stopped dead in his tracks.

His head turned a few degrees and tilted slightly into the air.

It was faint... barely perceived... easily dismissed... and entirely insignificant...

...except that it wasn't.

Cyborg slowly edged from his path to the elevator towards the far corner of the room. The air hung still under the sparse lighting of scattered studio lights. And Cyborg held his breath as he inched forward with the box of mechanical parts tightly gripped in his hands.

He approached the area in question and gradually kneeled next to a table to observe the ventilation outlet in the shadowed upper corner of the room.

Silence.

His eyes narrowed and began an infrared scan of the barred opening.

Silence.

The search completed with the detection of a recent heat presence... but abruptly ended there.

Cyborg leaned down and looked up into the hole with a puzzled expression.

"What the... Where'd that moth g—"

From underneath the table next to his head, a winged body shot forward and blinded him for the second time in less than an hour.

Cyborg released the cardboard box.

"Holy—"

He quickly dropped forward, and barely managed to catch it again before it struck the ground full force.

The moth laid quick fire on the Titan and frantically flew off into the shadows; Cyborg recovered automatically and kept an eye on the flying assailant.

"Not this time, buddy." The robotic eye stayed focused on the pyromoth as the insect darted into an invisible opening somewhere along the room's ceiling.

Cyborg briskly jogged toward the elevator and quickly entered it; he immediately set the box down and pressed a button. The elevator promptly closed its doors began its motion, quickly rising out of the underground garage and ascending toward the first floor. The red eye continued staring into the wall through the trip, intently focusing on an invisible object.

He raised his sonic cannon at the two doors.

"Game over."

_DING._

The shot fired and barely nicked the edges of the slowly opening doors; it struck the air in front of a torn ventilation duct just as the moth flew out.

Thick, red goo sprayed onto the wall.

Cyborg ambled over and inspected the fresh coat of organic paint.

"Hm... I don't Robin 'll be too crazy about this..." He shrugged. "Oh, well."

He quickly lifted the heavy box and carried it to the front door. Cyborg opened the flaps and examined the large pill-shaped device that laid covered under an assortment of parts and tools. "Now, I just got get this bad boy working..."

—

I swung forward and knocked the moth clear out of the air.

It was a little disappointing: I had really hoped to drain it first. Two more moths sprung forward from my side and I barely managed to both dodge the attack and secure a hold on their legs. I clutched the squirming insects in my hands and tossed them aside after a split second of concentration.

My fingers immediately began itching.

I squeezed a handful of spheres and tossed them all at once at an incoming swarm. The explosions shook the air and tossed red everywhere. And my hands were ready with more.

Another attack zipped forward like a glittering army of bees and struck down another mass of crazed insects.

I reached for a third handful... and barely dropped down in time to avoid a stream of flames. I straightened up and found myself surrounded on all sides. I tossed the spheres in my hands straight up in the air and whipped the nunchaka out as they hailed down and barely thinned out the ambush.

An enormous moth dove forward in front of me and I countered immediately.

The sharp teeth stood inches from my face, held back only by the middle link of the nunchaka. My arms fiercely pushed against it as it vigorously flapped its wings and squirmed violently.

All of a sudden, it clamped its jaws close.

I stared at the broken midsection of the weapon for only a moment before the moth charged forward and knocked into me.

The nunchaka flew into the air.

I instantly jumped forward after them...

...and stopped as I reached the edge of the Tower's rooftop. The damaged weapon slowly fell through the air and silently hit the rocky shoreline below. Near the nunchaka, Robin, Beast Boy, and Starfire systematically brought down moths and I briefly observed them fighting on the ground from my position on the roof; only a few minutes ago, the green prehistoric flier had offered to carry me up and traded places with me and, in such little time, I had already managed to lose a melee weapon.

I turned around quickly after watching the weapon disappear, and balled my fists.

It seemed things were going to go the hard way.

The pyromoths formed a tight circle around my position on the edge of the roof. The threat grew steadily as more moths joined the back of the encirclement and added to the mounting tension.

I swallowed one last breath of air and stood up on the tips of my toes.

I sprinted forward.

The moths screeched in response, but stayed absolutely still.

I neared them and took quicker and more powerful steps.

They began glowing and I felt the heat radiate painfully from them as their screech became high-pitched and painful to my ears.

But it was too late to stop my momentum.

I leaped forward in the air and steadied my right foot as I moved in to strike with a flying kick to the nearest moth.

The screams reached a peek and I grimaced mid-kick.

My foot shot forward as I anticipated the impact.

At less than a centimeter away from my foot, the moth exploded.

Not "exploded" like a firecracker explodes, or even like the moths exploded when I tagged them with supercharged spheres; "exploded" like it was hit by an anti-aircraft missile, like it was filled with hundreds of sticks of dynamite and tossed into a furnace.

**Exploded.**

All of them.

Simultaneously, and all less than a meter to my every side.

The force knocked me to the ground and cascaded several thick layers of wonderful, pale red slime all around my kneeling figure. As loud ringing echoed in my ears, I gradually stood back up and shook off the gunk from my body.

All around the rooftop, the same red goo littered the floor. And not a single moth hung in the air, though several parts laid explicitly about...

Several meters from the rooftop, Raven floated silently downwards toward Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg, who stood in a tight circle in front of the entrance to the tower. I moved forward and—seeing no other way down, and still feeling adrenaline pumping furiously through my veins—took a quick step off the roof.

The wind picked up as I grasped the ledge in front of a broken window. I peered in and barely saw anything in the black room; the only noticeable features were the red goo on blue bedsheets and the small black birds near the pillows.

Creepy.

I released the ledge and tipped myself backwards.

Various pipes and crevices allowed me to make my way down in exactly three minutes. I finally landed on the rocky floor and jogged over to the meeting in progress.

"...kinda like my sonic cannon, but with a radiating effect. I was able to tune to just the right frequency to burst the bugs right out of the air."

I slowly walked up beside Starfire.

Beast Boy shook his head beside me and rubbed his ear with his hand. "Geez Cyborg, but you couldn't get it to not affect _us?_ I think you made my ears bleed..."

"Hey, I got the job done, didn't I?" Cyborg asked innocently.

Beast Boy jutted out his lower jaw and glared at him. "Yeah. Real funny."

"Sorry to interrupt the beginning of another intellectual argument," Raven began, "but how are gonna clean all of this mess up?"

The Titans looked around at the mass sheet of sickly red ooze that coated the entire floor of the island with a silent awkwardness. Gradually all eyes came to a rest on the orange alien.

"Star," Cyborg casually asked, "you wouldn't happen to be extremely hungry, would you?"

Starfire's eyes widened horrifically. "I'm sorry, Cyborg, but I cannot eat that... that filth. I do not believe my digestive system would be able to handle such horrific material. It is vile, repulsive, sour, and most unpleasant."

She paused considerately.

"It also tastes much like the Earth beverage of ketchup."

Everyone cracked a smile.

Even Raven smirked beneath her hood.

"It's not time to clean up quite yet," Robin said, fighting a laugh; he turned and faced the City. "There are still a few more insects to round up."

—

_**3:12 am**_

The City.

Serene.

Sleeping.

Silent.

Buchanan Street ran through the middle of it.

It held, among other things, Valentino's Market, the Presbyterian Medicine Center, and the Motel Capri.

Warm lights illuminated scattered rooms of the motel.

Children's toys laid at rest in living rooms.

Husbands wearily flipped through television channels.

Wives slept soundly beside them.

And two specific men closed a door and flipped the rented room's light switch.

The room stayed dark for a moment before a single light bulb flickered on above the modest kitchen table.

"Another light went out. I can't believe this place..."

The other man ignored the comment and walked to the table.

"I still don't get why you're smiling: they destroyed them. All of them."

Cameron sighed in his civilian clothes and dropped a duffel bag on a couch in the middle of the small living room. "Because they weren't the point."

He swung open the refrigerator door and took a tired look into its contents.

Ketchup.

Bread.

Mayonnaise.

Ketchup.

Salami.

Jalapeños?

Ketchup.

He grunted and swept up the bread, mayonnaise, and meat.

"Whatever," Garfield responded. "As long as we got the suitcase." He lifted his hand and set the suitcase onto the kitchen table; his fingers tugged at the locks. "What the—? The locks won't open."

Cameron shrugged. "Doesn't matter, we can force 'em open later."

"But how do we know if the cash is inside?" Garfield eyed the equipment belt still strapped to his waist.

"I already told you: that money is nothing compared to the real payoff."

Garfield thrust the locked briefcase onto the table and walked away in frustration as Cameron laid out the ingredients on the crowded table and slowly made a sandwich.

"The Big Payoff," Garfield mocked. "How do we even know he's even going to deliver?"

Cameron continued spreading the mayonnaise on the bread and didn't even look up. "He'll deliver."

"How could he _possibly_ do it?"

He twisted the cap on the jar and placed on the table. "_You_ saw the sign," Cameron answered strongly. "_You_ saw the resources. Is there **any** doubt that they won't give him whatever he needs?" Cameron raised the sandwich to his mouth bit a small piece off. "Is there any doubt that we _weren't_ of something else they had in mind?"

He took another bite and chewed angrily. Cameron moved to the suitcase and placed the sandwich down on the table; he reached into the back pocket of his pants and pulled out a retractable blade. It easily slipped into the cracks of the suitcase and pried it open in a split second.

His hand dipped into the case and pulled out a fat wad of money. "Benjamins."

Garfield smiled and leaned back in the sofa. "_That's_ money in the bank. Not a shady contract from an unknown man representing—"

"Don't doubt him," Cameron interrupted. "Last thing I need is **them** after me, because **you** couldn't keep your mouth shut."

He leaned forward and shuffled through the bills, feeling around and picking stacks; after a few seconds, he paused and took his hand out.

"Well, I'm not afraid..." Garfield challenged.

Cameron turned and walked to the living room couch. "You should be. This isn't some petty arson scheme. It's not even armed burglary anymore. It's... something else..."

He stepped away from the couch and picked up the duffel bag. "I'm going to the bathroom..." He reached the room, stepped in quickly, and locked the door.

Garfield brought the lighter to the cigarette hanging casually out of his mouth and inhaled quickly. The end of the cigarette lit up and glowed a dull red. He breathed in a long drag and exhaled slowly with a sigh of extreme satisfaction.

"Another day, another dollar."

His eyes wandered over the room until they settled on the large briefcase on the table. Garfield inhaled deeply and ambled over to the small stash. He opened the lid and smiled barbarically as stacks of hundred-dollar bills danced in his eyes.

Garfield picked up a wad in each hand and squeezed it in his palm. He looked back to the briefcase and noted five missing stacks. "I'll bet Moth has 'em. Probably thinks I won't notice, too..."

He dug deeper into the suitcase and removed the top two layers of cash.

Beneath, laid a flawless layer of white rectangle pieces of paper.

Firefly paused in confusion and picked one up.

He quickly flipped through and found the entire stack the same; the entire layer of cash was blank. He lifted the row beneath and found the same results: wads of white.

Garfield tore out the rows until he reached the bottom of the case and felt something small, smooth, and round. He pulled it out and inspected it closely: it was solid metal, flat like a river stone, and flashing very slowly through a small red light bulb.

He dropped it onto the table and picked up the blank paper.

"We got duped."

Firefly threw it down. He picked another wad and flung it to the side; the stack hit the couch and white paper floated to the ground as he grew angrier. He grabbed the heavy metal object and hurled it to the side of an old bookcase in the dark corner of the room.

It stopped in the air before hitting the wall and fell to ground.

He paused and stared into the shadow. "That metal should have made some sort of noise..." Firefly stepped away from the dimly lit kitchen table and held out a flashlight from his pocket.

The small beam of light danced from the wooden bookcase and lit me up as I held a hand to my bruised thigh.

Firefly faltered. "Wha—You're... You're a Titan!"

Stepped away from the bookcase and faced him directly. "No. No, I'm not."

He dove back over the table and snatched up a gun from a bag laying on the table. "Don't move."

The bathroom door slowly creaked opened and Killer Moth emerged in full uniform; Firefly spotted him and urged him over.

"I know how she got here, but there's a Titan in here, Moth!"

"I know," he answered nonchalantly.

Firefly paused, expecting another answer. "...Well, then get over here and help me out!"

The front door of the room suddenly burst inwards and fell to the floor.

Robin jumped in sideways and Cyborg charged behind him with a readied sonic cannon.

I turned back to Firefly and grinned widely. "I suggest _you _don't move."

He turned to Killer Moth, who merely took a step backwards into the bathroom. "I told you, you were gonna burn this operation..." And the door slammed shut in front of him.

Firefly whipped back around with wild eyes.

He pulled trigger.

The flames shot forward and I dropped completely to the floor, barely avoiding them.

A small metal sphere flew through the air and landed in front of the threshold. Cyborg and Robin jumped over to the couch in the living room it exploded into a fiery haze. Robin twitched in the air and let fly a disk.

Firefly stumbled back as it struck the small table, encasing everything in solid ice. He dashed over to the window and flung it open...

...Only to have it slam shut again, sheathed in black energy.

Raven and Starfire floated menacingly into view outside the window.

Firefly scrambled back and leaped toward the bathroom. He threw open the door... and saw only an empty duffel bag on the floor and a shattered window on the wall.

"CAMERON!"

Firefly turned and faced the Titans as he back further into the bathroom.

"You'll never get us! Never get ME! I'm gonna burn you, suckers! You'll never catch—"

He fell to the ground as a black plank of wood lowered from his head and dropped to the floor.

Raven slipped in through the window. "Shut up."

Robin opened his communicator as Cyborg attended to the unconscious villain. "Beast Boy, where's Killer Moth?"

"_He got away. Moth threw a flash grenade at me before he even got out so I couldn't even see where he went... it's like he knew I was waiting for him._"

Robin gripped the communicator tightly. "Don't worry about it, Beast Boy. Just come on in." He closed the communicator and looked around the room.

A siren wailed in the background.

He smiled as he looked out the window.

"The City finally returns the favor."

Robin looked down at the time on the communicator and sighed; he turned and faced everyone else.

"Let's go home."


	14. Bathos

I woke up feeling light-headed; my mind was dizzy and tired and... completely unaware of the concept of time. I opened my eyes and squinted against the blinding sunlight that surrounded me. My vision came into focus gradually until I clearly saw a desk stuck on the ceiling. For several moments, I just stared at the floating piece of furniture and wondered if gravity was inverted in the afterlife...

I abruptly lifted my body off the side of the bed, pulled my head off of the floor, and felt the blood rush immediately from my flushed face. Spots danced in my eyes as I fought to retain composure and sit up straight.

The white bed cover had somehow managed to travel clear across the room through the night and wind up next to the desk—which was now sitting upright on the floor as it last was.

Both of the pillows were against the wall.

I sat up and arched my back tightly as I stretched. Despite the warm sunlight, I still felt a strong chill across my body. I looked down and suddenly realized that I must have fallen asleep while changing into my sleeping clothes...

The Titans and I had gotten back to the Tower extremely late. After hunting down the individual pyromoths through the City, we rushed through some formal procedures with the local law enforcement and surrounded the apartment where we had followed a small tracker that Robin had placed in the suitcase. After that, it was a small matter of gaining unlawful entry into the room and hiding in the shadows. Fortunately, the police took care of most of the resulting crime scene; Robin's favor apparently pulled through. We arrived at the Tower quickly and nobody said a single word as each one trudged up to his or her room.

I yawned exaggeratedly and slipped the off-white tanktop over my bare shoulders, feeling slightly warmer.

Firefly was taken in and the police began questioning him from the moment he started trudging down the stairs of the suddenly-awake motel. He didn't answer a single question but he didn't keep quiet with typical machismo: for the oddest reason, he seemed scared. Not frightened like a small child, but... scared into silence.

Killer Moth managed to evade the scene without a trace. Robin never said anything about it to Beast Boy from the motel room to the Tower, but I know I wasn't the only one that felt the unspoken tension.

I bent up, pulled the pants back over my legs, and fastened them at my waist.

Something told me there was no need for him to say anything to Beast Boy, either. I sensed that he dealt with failure in his own way...

The door slid open and I walked through dazed but fully dressed. I walked forward and noticed that the only sound in the hallway was a soft pat as my shoes touched the floor. Each room I passed was silent as a grave and merely echoed my silence.

Door after door.

I pulled the last door of the long hallway open a crack, slid into the Main Room, and saw...

...nothing.

A mild feeling of worry wormed its way into my head.

Perhaps they were simply out... without giving me any warning.

The handle of the pantry twisted smoothly underneath my hand; I slowly opened the door—painfully listening the creaking that penetrated the silence—and scanned its contents.

Condiments.

Canned meat products.

"Trash" food.

And...

I smiled, reached in, and pulled out a small box; my fingers gingerly fished out a small bag as I earnestly read the outside of the package for instructions. They seemed simple enough, so I pulled out a small pot, took it to the sink and filled it with the specified amount of water; I set it on the stove and absentmindedly watched it heat up. After only a minute, the bubbles began gaining speed and count as the water simmered and I watched with tired eyes. A small bag dangled in my hands. The stove glowed red, and I eagerly dropped the enclosed leaves to my tea.

My tea?

_My_ tea?

The Titans' tea.

It was certainly the Titans' tea, it belong to them by all rights. They bought it. _Everything_ in the tower was theirs; I was just borrowing it indefinitely. My eyes wandered over the cavernously empty room and I suddenly saw the strings on my body, invisible strings that were beginning to tie me to the tower.

Strings of attachment.

Strings of familiarity.

Strings of comfort.

Too comfortable. Over the past several days, I had grown close, confident, and unwary; by now, I was only inviting disaster.

A soft whistle brought my hand to the pot and I cautiously poured the contents into a cup I fished out of a cupboard.

Chains of vulnerability.

Chains of weakness.

Chains of—_PLLBBBBTT!_

Tea sprayed everywhere as I fell over the kitchen sink and spit out the brown drink form my mouth, the cup hung loosely by my face as the last of it dribbled out.

That was _tea_?

_That_ was tea!

The last of the brown liquid trailed into the drain as I rubbed my tongue against the sides of my mouth, fighting to rid my taste buds of the flavor: it was weak and dull and dirty, like the taste of moistened dead grass, the taste of recycled water, the taste of diluted urine.

"GAH!"

Grimacing, I fought off the last of the taste and fumbled to pour out the rest of the kettle into the sink. I inhaled deeply when I finally got rid of it and was suddenly grateful there was no one around to see—

_SWISH_.

The door to the Main Room opened.

"Hey."

And Beast Boy stepped out.

"We're wondering when you'd get up. We're all on the roof. " He moved back inside of the hall and turned around. "You coming?"

—

"...So I called the police and they arrested all three of them while I got outta there."

Laughter.

"That's crazy, man." Cyborg stopped working and smiled. "I _still_ can't believe that kid asked if you wanted to 'get on the horse!' What is it, the 80s?"

"Robin, I do not understand the cause for the embarrassment when you were in the crowded club of dancing," Starfire insisted. "What did the people say to you?"

He looked down at the end of his mop and focused on a huge red glob of partially dissolved goop. "Nothing... dumb things..."

Beast Boy burst through the roof access door and strutted across a thick layer of smeared slime. "Hey, look who I found!"

I slowly emerged from the darkness of the staircase and, for the second time in a single morning, I blinked madly against the blinding sunlight.

Slowly, images formed beneath the glaring light around me. Starfire and Robin stood in the center of the roof with large mops, earnestly scrubbing away at the goo that coated the floor; Cyborg was on the left wing, bent over a large section of broken panels on the top of the roof; Raven floated to my right, noiselessly shoveling debris into collective piles.

"Pleasant mid-morning," Starfire announced with a wide smile. "Have you come to join us in our endeavor of the daybreak?"

I stood transfixed in the same spot. "Mm... yes?"

Despite my previous belief, her smile did manage to grow even wider.

"Glorious!"

Beast Boy waltzed past me and lay down on clear spot on the ground. "Dude, I still don't know why you're making us work. The sky is clear and the day is perfect for a little Frisbee action." He instantly morphed into a gold retriever with the last line and panted happily.

"Because," Robin answered casually, "if we leave this stuff on here any longer, it's gonna weld itself to the tower walls and leave permanent red stains." He stopped working and propped himself with the mop as he faced Beast Boy. "And do you know who would be scheduled to clean the entire thing by himself?"

The puppy lowered his head and whimpered; Beast Boy rose from the floor and walked away, sourly muttering under his breath. "A simple 'just cause' woulda worked..."

The scene returned to its previous mechanical work. I stood by awkwardly, unsure of exactly what I was supposed to be doing: _I_ wasn't on the schedule. Uneasily, I snatched a nearby mop from the floor and set myself immediately to the task of scrubbing the floor to a perfect shine.

Unfortunately, it was easier imagined than done.

Every time I tried to clean any part of the floor, the slimy red residue simply smeared across the floor and stained the rooftop; the mop itself seemed to be less than useless for actually cleaning the floor. I began furiously thrusting the mop head against the floor as I grew more determined to vanquish the parasitic goo. The mop nearly hit the point where it burst into flames, when all of a sudden, a shadow interrupted.

"We appreciate your help last night." The edges of her cloak flapped in my line of sight. I stopped mopping and stood idly as her voice continued in a tepid whisper. "They—_We_ realize that you don't owe us anything and we..." A distinct sigh escaped from under hood. "...and we'd like to offer you membership."

I stood rigid and met her shrouded eyes.

"Membership?"

The eyes never blinked.

"To the Titans."

_The two of us were high above the surrounding buildings; I stood transfixed, terrified by the most harmless of offers. Despite the unclouded sky and the bright sunlight, the heavy winds nailed the cold through my thin clothes and sent unconscious shivers down my back._

_Dark-colored eyes stared back at me._

_I stood with my mouth slack and my thoughts racing to keep up with time._

"_Ya..."_

_We were alone and yet I felt the presence of the others: their ears undoubtedly strained to hear what I had to say._

_Every second, every movement of the millions of clocks around the world, ticked loudly around me._

_Tick._

_Tick._

_Tick_

_Tick Tick _

_Tick Tick Tick_

_TickTickTickTickTickTickTickTickTick_

_Sigh._

"Take your time."

The solid rock beneath my feet melted back into a layer of pasty red slime.

"I... I will."

Raven hovered in place and slipped her eyes away. "Think about it."

_He slowly turned and calmly walked away. "And Mika..." The dark eyes faced me once more. "Doverie nikto."_

The only thing I felt was the smooth wood of the mop tightly grasped in my hands; not a single thought strolled through my mind.

Mop mindlessly.

Silently.

_Take a walk._

Yes, a walk...

The handle fell to the floor with a light _thwack_. My feet absentmindedly shuffled forward and I found myself moving away from the clean spot I had scraped into the roof. In the distance, tiny movements outlined the busy day of the oblivious citizens. I stepped toward the edge of the roof and prepared to join them...

...and discreetly spied red hair flowing out of the corner of my eye.

I jerked my foot back in response; my eyes darted away from the faraway scene and settled on the new figure beside me.

Starfire stood a pace from the edge. Her eyes strayed ahead, absorbing the same scene I had been watching seconds earlier. Several seconds of silence proceeded as I continued watching her steady eyes and unwavering face; the expression was nostalgic and sad, but somehow laced with some sort of happiness. A gentle rhythm of continuous scrubbing carried on behind us as we stood in noiseless contemplation.

It scared me.

**Cough.**

Her eyes stayed on the distant city as I recovered from my feigned cough. "I wish to ask whether you wish to partake in a journey in my company."

I stood rigid for a moment as unlabeled alarms went off madly in my head. The prospect of any type of journey displeased me greatly, even more with a complete stranger. But the sudden chance to escape the Tower's strings drew me in regardless of the cost.

"Yes."

"Yes?" she echoed. "Wonderful."

Starfire spun from her position and faced me completely; the familiar wide smile covered her face and her eyes sparkled with superhuman delight. "I wish to venture forth to the mall of shopping!"

I felt Despair mount on top of my shoulders.

"I am delighted that you should join me, Mika." She leaped into the air in glee and began speaking extremely quickly. "It has been many Earth months since I was able to journey to the assorted clothing and entertainment departments of the local shopping center. Every time I ask Robin, Cyborg, or Beast Boy, their eyes begin moving quickly and they suggest that I ask Raven. But Raven always acquires a debilitating illness when I ask her. Although..." She shot a quick look at the busy empath and continued in a hurried whisper. "Although, I am beginning to suspect that she may be feigning the illnesses."

I stood in her gaze, pressed beneath the mountain of words and unaware of how to respond.

"Yes?"

She moved beside me and threw one more glance over the faraway cityscape. "While we are there we can acquire clothes for you, as well; I noticed that the container you brought to the Tower was significantly empty. Shall we go now?"

I nodded and turned to say something to the rest of the Titans.

The orange arm grabbed me before I could let out a word and swept me off my feet. The busy Titans on the roof grew small and distant as I flew backwards into the air, struggling against the pressure.

I twisted in my place and faced the front; our path twirled above the inlet and, for some odd reason, I truly felt like I was flying. My legs drifted back, my arms stuck out loosely, and cool mist brushed against my face as Starfire gently guided us over the fresh waves of the morning waters.

_Strings of attachment._

I jerked in the air as we approached the docks and a wave of discomfort hit me strongly in the depth of my stomach.

"Umm... Starfire?" I glanced upward and spotted a look of eerie happiness on the alien's face. "Starfire? Perhaps we should walk the rest of the way—"

"—Oh!"

Just like that... the arms holding me several meters up in the air disappeared from beneath me.

And I fell.

The air rushed past me and I felt the sharp air drag on my scarf, vainly attempting to slow me down. As the ground rushed toward me, my hands moved forward before my face and braced for the impact.

Suddenly, I held the distinct impression that Starfire was not going to catch me.

I slammed full force into the green treetop and took it down with me. Leaves flew everywhere as I tumbled down the snapping wooden maze at only a slightly reduced speed and fought to gain any sort of balance. A branch struck me in the ribs and broke off as the rest of me pressed against it.

Falling.

Lunging out blindly into the air, I scarcely felt my fingers brush against solid bark.

It was all I needed.

I gripped the tree single-handedly and swung my lower body in an arc, abruptly changing the direction of my full weight and throwing my body at an odd downward angle. My feet hit and skid on the grass as I leaned forward and awkwardly brought myself to a complete stop. I bounced up and flexed my fingers with a wild smile on my face.

_That's_ how you start the day.

"Are..." A middle-aged man appeared next to me with a look of complete disbelief. "Are you okay?"

I shrugged casually and ignored the burning sensation in the hand that had just saved my life. "I think so."

"Mika!"

My shoulders twitched at the loud, distinct pronouncing of my name; without delay, Starfire reappeared behind me, her eyes in wide shock, and her mouth moving like a speeding bullet. "I am most terribly sorry. I was observing the water and I became forgotten in my own thoughts; I was not fully concentrating on the flight and my hands accidentally opened without warning. Please know that I would never intentionally—"

"I'm safe." I looked at myself, and noticing no damaged other than the leaves clinging to my clothes, returned the glance back to Starfire.

"I am grateful." She sighed deeply and slipped a small smile on her face. "Let us continue."

Starfire faced the direction where she had entered and began to make her way out; I followed closely behind, but not before sneaking one last look at the dumbstruck man beside us.

Confusion is priceless.

—

Sunlight gleamed off the moving vehicles; shadows cloaked the roads between the towering buildings; and fresh air filled the sky with a lively presence. The natural ambiance incited a generic bustle through the city. But few people graced the sidewalk, most apparently preferred the comfort of the air-conditioned, steel chariots of apathy.

A dark-green car sped past us on the road and pulled a cool current across my back.

"They seem so happy."

Stepping off the curb, I walked towards the next street and faced Starfire.

"Who?"

We gradually made our way across the street through a temporary gap in the cars.

"Them."

My eyes moved through the city around us: farther down the sidewalk, a well-dressed mother pushed her baby in a stroller; an elderly man slowly drove in the road beside us; two dark-skinned men laughed through the window of a convenience store. All around us, ambient serenity drifted in silence.

"I do not frequent the streets of the city when not fighting and I have desired to do so for a time now," she continued. "I wish to walk among the citizens and see the city as they do."

I nodded in passive indifference and casually glanced around at the surrounding neighborhood: a scraggly man with a beard dug through a dumpster nestled in a narrow alleyway; a cluster of middle-aged businessmen honked angrily from their cars at a slow truck delaying traffic; a man fumble nervously as he spoke to another at the cash register of a pawn shop. All around... serenity drifted?

"They are always so confident, so certain, and yet, they have absolutely no way of defending themselves. I do not know how they do it."

My eyes floated back ahead. "They look lazy," I mumbled to myself.

We continued moving slowly past a pastry store in comfortable silence.

No way of defending themselves.

They really are powerless. They truly possess nothing beyond their own humanity to help them stand up to injustice; everyday, the citizens wake up unaware of their fate and hope that the Titans will catch the falling debris and stop the speeding trains and foil the villains' evil plan.

Their only hope rests on five teenage vigilantes?

Somehow, I refused to believe that _anyone_ could actually **do** tha—

"Ummma, Missus?"

We paused and I threw a quick glance behind us to look for the voice.

"Missus Starfire?"

Turning around, I glanced down and abruptly noticed the tiny girl standing before us.

"You're a Team Titan!"

Starfire beamed beside me and gave an odd wave in response. "Correct, little girl. I am part of the Teen Titans, the group that protects the people of the city, like you."

"You talk funny!"

The alien's eyebrows dropped ever so slightly, and the little girl obliviously continued. "I was going to the store yesterday with my mommy in the car and we saw you flying really fast over the car and there was some bad guys flying away and you were really fast."

Starfire nodded and replied, "That is also correct, litt—"

"I said 'wow, that's fast!' and my mommy said it wasn't right for a young lady to be flying in a skirt but I told her that purple was pretty and flying was fun and I want to fly when I grow up and then she said that if you did that outside than she didn't know what else you did in a house full with boys."

It was so quiet I could hear a dog barking across the city.

Starfire's face sat in an expression of hopeless confusion.

"I said that you probably made them clean the house, but then—"

And suddenly, the girl stopped in mid-sentence, faced me completely—as if only _then_ realizing that I was standing there—scanned me from top to bottom, and cocked her head to the side.

"Who are you?" I opened my mouth to respond, but she cut me off. "Are you a Titan?"

I stood with my mouth completely agape, as a feeling of discomfort crept over me.

_Membership._

_To the Titans._

Starfire answered for me, "She will be soon, little girl."

_Soon?_

"Cool!"

I smiled nervously and furiously looked for something on which to focus my gaze.

"I'm gonna tell all my friends!"

The little girl instantly turned and ran down the sidewalk, disappearing into the grocery store where she had presumable originated from.

"That..." Starfire began, as she turned to face me, "was... ... ... enjoyable?"

I shrugged and started walking again.

_Soon._

—

The cold blast hit bitterly; a shiver wormed its way across my shoulders and down my back and forced me to slightly twitch. We stood between two open doors in the threshold of a tremendous indoor plaza.

Mall.

A warehouse of wealth; a collection of capital; a brothel of businesses intent on liberating hard-earned tender from their temporary carriers.

I stood at the entrance and looked over the masses of people.

_Rows._

Quickly moving, bustling about their own business, and pushing their prizes before them.

_Carrying in their arms all they could carry: jars – large, transparent, filled to the brim with nonperishables; books – thick, weathered, carefully censored by black ink; and blankets, stacks of blankets._

_I watched the people move around, hurriedly, mindlessly, inattentively._

_Like a pack of rats._

_Hungry rats._

"Move it."

_The force hit me from the side._

A metal cart led by a large woman in green rushed aside as she ignored the fact that she had hit me to the ground with her grotesquely wide thighs. I quickly picked myself up and walked out of the way of the crowd behind me; they continued rushing past without the slightest regard for anything.

The orange alien appeared next to me and her concerned eyes looked me over before continuing, "You are unharmed?"

"Completely."

"Wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Then let us venture forth to the first store of clothing."

Her hand firmly clasped my wrist and my feet left the ground.

Again.

—

"Stick to the right, okay?"

"That's what I'm _doing_!"

"No, you're wandering this way, and that's exactly what'll get us killed."

"Whatever, _I_ know that—"

The dog came in from nowhere, and as it dove forward, the only thing more threatening than its bloodthirsty snarl was the way it moved its muscular, sleek, and completely skinless body. A hellish growl erupted forth as the jaws sprung open and the claws extended.

Cyborg flipped up the pistol and peeled off three shots into its face.

"See? If you would've been lookin' at your own side, it wouldn't have sneaked up on us."

Beast Boy shook his head and turned back to the screen. "Dude, I'm telling you, I got my own system."

"Right, okay. Just watch the screen."

Raven sighed; she had trouble even concentrating: every fifty seconds Cyborg would groan and complain that Beast Boy was "looking at the wrong side of the screen" or "just looking for power-ups" or something menial, and the green elf would shout some insult back and they would start arguing again, all while deftly firing away at deformed zombies on the television screen with wired guns.

"Dude, stop looking for power-ups and concentrate on the zombie chef that's throwing knives at us!"

Slowly, Raven lowered her cup into the sink next to another fallen cup and rinsed it out before approaching the huge screen where the two Titans rhythmically swayed the twin pistols from left to right across the carnage-strewn screen. She stood for a minute, not saying a word but only staring past the room into the distant city, until finally her lips stirred.

"Do you think she'll join?"

A barrage of shots tore apart a crazed doctor lunging in midair and sent him crumpling to the floor. Beast Boy and Cyborg simultaneously turned their heads and faced the empath that stoically stood staring at the massacre on screen.

"Why?"

Raven noiselessly nodded her head and waved off the question. "Nevermind..."

"She'll do _something,_" Cyborg reassured, "And I'm sure it'll have nothing to do with anything we do or say."

He spun back and unloaded an entire clip into an angry undead maid.

Raven stood still.

"Shouldn't you two be repairing broken glass instead of playing zombie video games?"

Beast Boy turned away from the screen and smiled. "We're just taking a little break, Robin won't even know we're—"

"**Watch your side of the screen, Beast Boy!**"

"—I _am_!"

Raven sighed.

"Why do I even bother?"

—

The brown eyes stared back me, daring me to call them liars, challenging me to prove that they were at fault for anything. The mirror reflected my own gaze, and I stared nonchalantly back at the figure before me: brown hair, brown eyes, pretty shoes. At the moment, I wore a bright yellow shirt that was too small. The bottom barely reached my waistline, the front of the collar dipped low, the material was extravagantly thin, and it fit my torso like a tight glove.

Peeling off the garment, I threw it in a small pile and pulled on my regular long-sleeve shirt.

Another rejection.

I gathered the pile and quickly exited the cramped stall. Several girls walked past but my attention went out to the rest of the clothing store that was within my line of sight; my eyes roamed looking for...

"Mika!"

...Starfire.

She materialized beside me with her green eyes shining. "Did you find favor among the collection that I selected?"

Nervously, I eyed the clothes that lay across my arms, and fumbled for an answer: "I, Mm, I... No."

She didn't even blink.

"But, the TV of M declared that this clothing was inside during the season, and the TV of M does not lie." Starfire paused only a single moment and continued. "Perhaps I should continue to seek the other variations I have seen on the television."

I nodded and pretended to know what she was saying until she flew back to her search. Row after row filled the clothing store that mimicked a warehouse, save for it's neatly painted and decorated walls; people moved through the empty rows systematically examining every piece of clothing, occasionally pulling one out and laying it in their blue plastic carts.

I decided to blend in.

Moving to the nearest row, my attention narrowed to the simple blouses before me, and somehow, they all looked like the ones I had tried on earlier. Changed colors, collar differences, different brands, but they all had the exact same look to them; they all had the same breezy, tight layout that groped me in the stall.

"Jennifer'd do it."

"No way!"

"Yeah she would!"

The two girls stood beside each other in the row in front of me.

"But it would have to be with Brandon?"

"We 'ere talkin' about it today in chemistry and she definitely said she wouldn't **_not_** do it!"

"Oh my God, I can _so_ believe it."

Nothing I tried could keep my attention from wandering to the pair's queer discussion.

"I heard that first it was gonna be Shannon, but last week they broke up and he stopped."

"That's prolly why she started crying in English yesterday. She said it was because of her grandma dying, but I totally knew she was lying."

"So this weekend Jenn's finally gonna gi—"

The first girl stopped mid-sentence and turned around.

Nobody was in view.

"Let's finish this over at—"

"—We gotta go pick that jacket while we're there so let's just..."

The voices quickly disappeared out of earshot and left the clothing rack silent. Two red and beige shirts carefully separated and I slowly peered out; apparently, I had ducked in at the right time. For some reason, I felt that the girls had wanted their privacy and would have been less than content with my presence, but for that same reason, I felt compelled to hear them.

I wonder if Jennifer will do it...

"I am curious to learn of the Russian custom that involves hiding in walls of clothing."

The clothes softly swayed as I slowly separated myself from the row; I looked around discreetly and casually straightened myself up. "It is native to my village, and... the smell of the clothes reminded me of home."

Starfire nodded emphatically as she stood beside me. "I wholeheartedly understand..." Her eyebrows lowered slightly and I caught the sound of a stifled choke in her throat. "...I, too, sometimes long for the smell of my mother's hair. It was always spiced with a lovely incense, and I used to try to eat it when I was an infant."

She sighed with distant eyes as the subtle smile slowly faded from her soft face.

I stared at her nostalgic expression and felt a question well up within my mind.

Don't say it.

Don't ask it.

Just keep moving.

"How long has it been... since last you smelled your mother's hair?"

I asked it.

For the first time in the few days I had been with the Titans, Starfire's eyes lost their sparkle.

She attempted to answer, but I could see the words struggling to leave her tongue. As if time had frozen only for us, we stood in dead silence in the blurred tumult of the store environment; a faint expression of weariness slowly appeared on her face and held her silently for a single heavy moment.

"It has been," she sighed with a flooding release of physical tension, "nearly seven Earth years."

I stood before the haunted Titan with uneasiness: despite my best efforts, I could think of nothing to say to her. Every action considered only led to consolation, consolation that inadvertently led to more knowledge. And the last thing I wanted was to know anything more about the Titans. I didn't care to know any more about their life and deeds. Their philosophy and their members did not interest me, especially their resident alien.

I didn't want to know how long she been away from her mother.

I didn't want to know why they had been separated.

I didn't want to know why she came to Earth.

I didn't want to know when she was going back.

I didn't want to know why she always hummed when she was flying.

I didn't want to know why her eyes always lingered on Robin whenever he was addressing the Titans.

I especially didn't want to know why she chose to tell me anything about herself.

I only wanted to know how to get out of the situation that I found myself forced into, the point of no return.

"I... understand, as well."

**Failure.**

Starfire's gaze found me again and a wispy smile returned to her face.

The spark struck in her eyes and, suddenly, they were ablaze again.

"This set... of denim garments appear to be the most... physically comforting," she said, handing me a pair of dark blue jeans.

I gripped them firmly in my hands and felt them out with my hands; they were coarse, rough, stiff, tightly stitched, and... just the right size.

"Thank you, these are suitable."

"Glorious," the smile softly responded.

Starfire turned and moved down the rows of clothes as I trailed behind her. We crossed the store with relative ease and reached the entrance of the store quickly. But as she moved, I suddenly stopped.

Weren't we supposed to—?

_**WEEEEOOOOOOOOOP!**_

Starfire paused and whirled around to me with a look of confusion.

The security alarm continued shouting wildly around us as a man in uniform approached.

Once more, I regretted leaving the Tower that morning.

_**WEEEEOOOOOOOOOP!**_

—

The noon sun hung high in the sky as the last of the red goo on the roof flew off the top and landed with a soft _plunk_ into the sea.

Robin held the modified mop before him and leaned heavily on it.

"You think she's going to join?"

The weight shifted to his back leg and he pulled the mop across his back; he turned and made his way back to the rooftop access door.

"...You think she'_s_ going to join."

He stopped and glanced at Raven; she floated above the rooftop facing the opposite direction and brought scraps of broken metal into piles. "Why would you ask if you already knew the answer?"

She ignored the misdirection. "Why are we doing this?"

The mop slid off his back and spun around like a staff in mock defense.

"We already discussed this."

"Granted," she replied, "but I still don't see the advantage to inviting danger into our Tower, especially in light of our spectacular track record with members."

Robin sighed roughly. "Friends close... enemies closer."

The trash gathered into its groups and Raven turned with a curious eye.

"She's an enemy now?"

"She's an uncertainty," the Boy Wonder replied without hesitation, "until we get reason to believe otherwise."

A cloud passed over the sun and cast a temporary shadow over the roof. A warm wind swept across the rooftop as Robin turned back around to the roof door; his fingers barely clasped around the door handle...

"You think she's going to join?"

He paused a moment without turning around and smiled.

"I sent Starfire with her. What do you think?"

The door closed behind him.

—

She was crouching under a bridge.

Her back was hunched as she rested her weighted on the hands on her knees. A worried look accompanied her shifting eyes, and an evident shortness of breath suggested she had been running only moments ago.

A breath cut short as she craned her neck forward.

Silence.

She began a sigh of relief and stopped abruptly.

Silence.

Her eyes darted around, scanning everything, searching for the source of her worries.

A shadow slowly crept toward her exposed back.

She leaned forward tentatively, still on her search.

A pair of hands thrust forward; the blow connected solidly and thrust her to the ground and onto her hands and knees.

The attacker giggled.

"You're it!"

The little girl jumped from the ground and brushed off her clothes. "No fair! You're pushing!"

I watched her scurry after the little boy across the plastic indoor playground; rambunctious laughter flowed through the area as I continued observing the playing children: smiling faces, dirty clothes, tousled hair, yelps of joy; a tumult of youth and innocence and sweat.

It was... unnatural. The children should have been in school or—at the very least—working, and their supervision was minimal at best: two women I assumed to be their mothers chatted loudly and excitedly on a nearby bench, dearly wrapped up in distraction. The children ignorantly played nearby, advertising themselves as potential victims for every crime short of espionage.

It would be surprisingly easy to harm their children, the women should be more careful...

"They are almost enviable, are they not?"

I nodded in reply. "I suppose so."

Starfire leaned forward and joined me in leaning against a metal railing as the children giggled before us.

"Their activities, their education, and the beginning of their lives are entrusted in the hands of their caretakers. They do not need to worry about any matter because their lives are... secure."

"How do they know that?"

She continued concentrating on the children and turned slightly in my direction: "I... I am afraid I do not understand, Mika."

"How do they know that what their guardians want for them is safety? How do they know that those desires are for their benefit at all?"

I felt her eyes quietly looking me over. "That is what they are entrusted to do. In society, their role is to protect the ones that cannot protect themselves."

"How can they all be trusted?"

"They can not..." she replied.

Silence delicately dangled between us as the faraway hum of an air-conditioning unit accompanied it.

I hung my head and closed my eyes.

Frigid air.

"But the ones that _can_ strive to secure the world against them."

A smile slowly spread across my face: Starfire was definitely not as naïve as she pretended. She wasn't talking about the children and their parents, and she knew I hadn't even been talking about them.

It was about the Titans.

And she knew about the membership offer.

I leaned off of the rail and turned to face the Titan; her eyes stared back into mine. "You may be correct."

Her face lit up and Starfire smiled warmly before walking ahead toward another line of stores. I watched a single of bag of clothing swing behind her for several second before following.

I knew she was wrong.

Five minutes later, we found ourselves in a room surrounded by walls paneled with expensive equipment. The entrance to the store was a bamboo forest of small booths with cellular telephones; advertisements with "unbelievable offers" littered every available space between the merchandise. The wall to our left was covered with numerous television screens hanging flatly against the wall and displaying some sort of sporting event.

I walked down an aisle as my eyes wandered across the wall; along the perimeter of the floor stood stacks of computer hardware, most of it obscure, expensive, and unrecognizable.

I picked up a loose cable from a hanging collection and stared at it for a few moments.

"_Yagde vi soedinyaete zto?"_

_The cable hung loosely in my hand as I stared dumbly at the circuit board before me._

"_There."_

_She reached over, grabbed the cable from my hand, and directed it into a small space near the top left corner; the cable immediately snapped into place and she returned to her own work._

_I stared at a full sheet of instructions for several moments, grabbing pieces and comparing them to the ones on the diagrams._

_Minutes of silence trudged past, and I noticed the sun beginning to set outside._

_I dropped the pieces before me and sighed heavily; several moments passed before anything broke the silence._

"_'Mika."_

_My eyes drifted toward the girl who sat beside me._

_She didn't face me._

"_Accept the offer."_

"...and the software can be updated through the internet whenever there's a new release, though it won't be too often. Well, through that software you can actually store everything on this thing. It has a secondary function as portable storage for anything: documents, pictures, movies, or whatever you want. It also comes with a year long guarantee that we honor strictly here..."

Starfire stood about two meters in front of me with a very determined looking man in front of her; in his hand, he held a small white rectangular device. The employee emphatically continued his speech to her, making increasingly wider gestures and growing observably excited. From the look on her face though, it seemed that Starfire was missing the entire message of the grand display.

I quietly joined her and caught the end of the presentation.

"...but they don't even compare to this baby. It really is the best player on the market out there." He paused slightly. "So do you think you'd be interested?"

Silence.

Starfire stood absolutely still with the same weak smile that covered her face while the young man had been ranting about the tiny electronic product his hands.

Then, she opened her mouth and replied.

"... … No."

The store clerk stood staring at her with the same expression she had worn only seconds earlier; his eyes shifted and he turned to me, apparently expecting some sort of help.

I shrugged and walked in the opposite direction. In the distance, I heard her beam several words of thankfulness and various offers of business trading; the clerk stammered some response but I felt Starfire follow behind me out of the store.

My shoulders slowly loosened as we passed the threshold without the alarm going off; the earlier event had not been exactly enjoyable, and I looked forward to never repeating the experien—

"HEY!"

I bent my knees and jerked back in response to the random exclamation.

From the far left, I spotted an older youth in casual dress pushing people aside; his hair spun as he threw frequent looks back to the angry man that stumbled behind him through the clumped masses of civilians.

"Stop that kid, he stole that clothes!"

I stood absolutely still as the alleged fugitive sprinted nearer to me. Casually, I crouched down, placed my palms against the smooth, cold tile, and shifted my weight slightly.

...stompSTOMPstompSTOMPstompSTOMPstomp...

The kid ran past me just I thrust my leg out and swung around; I caught his right foot in the air and brought it back against his left leg. The body kept moving as he toppled forward and sprawled onto the floor.

The motion of the sweep brought me back around and I quickly stood up as the uniformed pursuer arrived, more than slightly out of breath.

"Thanks... he stole... a LOT of stuff and... we were... we were tryin' to... to..."

I caught sight of Starfire out of the corner of my eye as she joined me from the right side.

The guard glanced at her... then at me... then back at Starfire... and settled on me.

"Who are you?" He shifted his weight onto his back leg and stared at me with confusion. "Are you a Titan?"

I returned the confused stare for a second.

Then I walked away.

—

The rays hit the rooftop at a perfect diagonal as the sun hung halfway down its evening path, but the still empath sat untouched by it, slowly chanting a set of words under her breath.

Her shadow lengthened under the evening light, but her body, save her lips, sat unmoving.

"This morning..."

Raven tightened her eyes as she spoke aloud. She attempted to remain silent for the remaining time, but words writhed their way through her mouth.

"...she was..."

The two eyes slowly opened and fixated intently on the spot where people had stood several hours earlier; their spiritual traces lingered, etched into the air. A light wind suddenly brushed past and smeared them out of sight without the slightest resistance.

Her gaze gradually floated back through the air into nothingness.

A heavy suspire ended the meditation for the evening.

Raven noiselessly stood and made her way back to the Tower.

She barely moved before looking back at the previous place.

"...she was..."

The edges of her cloak shuffled.

"...she was crying?"

The wind answered with silence.

—

Raucous laughter.

Crying children.

Loud conversations.

And two silent shoppers.

We walked steadily past the crowds of shouting citizens, unaware of any of their commotion.

An awkward silence filled the void between us as we quickly walked through the wide passageway of the mall. The tension only escalated as we drew further and further.

Noise.

Silence.

"I am... unsure of how to respond," Starfire offered.

"I agree," came my reply.

We gradually slowed our pace and kept in step with the flow of people around us.

Silence.

"Perhaps I am alone in wondering..." Starfire began, "about the reasoning behind placing such large quantities of metal rings through one's face."

Only seconds before, we had been shuffling around a very dark store; the maze-like racks displayed clothing of dark hue, and black shirts with white text plastered the walls. There was no reason for us to have been in there, and we quickly grew uncomfortable. We had been backing away toward the door when we were approached by a very... unusual store clerk.

Needless to say, it had not been pleasant.

"There was a hole in his ear," I stated, "that I could have placed my finger through."

We moved along uneasily and passed through the glass entrance doors. The evening breeze greeted us coldly and rippled a spasm across my back muscles; I shivered in response. Starfire sauntered past me, completely unaffected, and continued down to the main street.

I followed her as I took in the city around me: the casual traffic, the decreased number of people on the street, and the gradual sparking of lights as they flickered on against the darkening sky and the setting evening sun.

Shadows grew longer and crossed our path all the way through the cool streets of the slowing city. In only a few minutes, we reached the waves of the city's waters and stopped. Starfire reached for hand, but stopped as she sensed my hesitation.

"Come, let us return to the Tower," she suggested. Her eyes softened slightly. "...If you wish to do so."

Pausing only slight, I nodded my head and offered my hands; Starfire eagerly clenched them and brusquely pulled me off the ground and into the evening sky.

The waves swayed strongly below us, but the dull roar was only a background noise as I kept a stared ahead at the distant island.

There was no way I could join.

Too much comfort.

Too much vulnerability.

Too many chances to get lulled into a false sense of confidence and swallowed by foreign dangers that did not concern me.

The Titans were trouble.

And I needed out.

_Out from the strings and away from the chains._

The Tower slowly grew larger as we neared it, and my eyes felt suddenly drawn to the left side of the base; the side covered with fresh green grass.

_Toward the green._

_It was the most brilliant green I had ever seen, the kind I had only read about in textbooks. The blades were thin and slippery, like an organic wax in my lightly clenched fist. I slowly opened my hands and watched a gust of wind gently weave the beautiful grass through my fingers and into the summer air._

_The blades waltzed slowly as they passed above a line of people standing happily on the sides of a road ahead of us._

_The crowds stretched all along the sidewalk as their strict attention rested on the cars slowly cruising through the road._

"_Ya ne ponimayu."_

_A voice answered calmly beside me. "It is a public demonstration."_

_Anxiety stirred through the masses in front of us; anticipation gleamed in the eyes of adults as children scrambled around them, giggling and sneaking looks up the street. Flags sprouted from the crowd like red, blue, and white flowers waving rhythmically in the breeze._

"_Their Leader should be approaching soon." Bodies moved restlessly around me as our two hours of wait came to a culmination. A hush settled as a lustrous red car came into view up the road._

_From my place on the green hill, I watched the car ride forward with its top removed. Two men in business suites and darkened glasses sat in the front seat while a middle-aged man grinned and waved at the lines of people from the backseat. A pretty young woman sat beside him with a polite and pleasant smile and a fashionable pink outfit; confidence radiated from her and her significantly important husband._

_Our eyes collectively drifted to the highest window of run-down warehouse that stood across the street._

_As the car crossed in front of us, a rifle barrel subtly peeked out from the window._

_It tilted slightly and pivoted to the pace of the car._

_The shots rang out._

_Screams suddenly filled the air as people scrambled panic-stricken around the edges of the road. People in uniform rushed to the injured official inside the car and swarmed the sidewalk in earnest terror._

_The boy shifted slightly toward me and spoke in a barely audible whisper, "Have you reached a decision?"_

_I stood still and focused intently on the distant bedlam. _

_He sighed and started down the grassy knoll. _

"_Mi Zakontcheni. Davaite uezzhat."_

_One by one, the bodies around me turned and followed._

_I continued staring at the pretty woman in the car, who was crying uncontrollably as she gripped the body of her partner…_

"_Mika."_

_I turned and followed the others._

"Mika?"

I blinked my eyes and found myself staring at the incoming ground; Starfire lowered me slowly and I gracefully slipped off. My feet met the grass and I walked the landing, but my mind was still distracted.

No.

The citizens may have been happy placing their safety in the hands of the Titans, but I couldn't share their sense of comfort: my safety was my in my hands only; and it was long time that I follow another path.

A path away from the tower.

I sighed heavily and turned the far corner of tower toward the entrance...

...and barely saw a glob of red goo the size of a car tire slash past my face.

I flinched and threw myself up against the wall of the tower.

Before me, a war was taking place.

Robin dove through the air, Cyborg furiously launched assaults from his arm cannon, and Beast Boy madly cycled through various animals as he charged about.

And red slime was everywhere.

"Take that, tin can!"

"Don't think I didn't see that, Robin!"

"We'll you didn't see the one _I_ gave a second ago."

"Yeah, 'cause I was too busy wailing on this nutbag!"

"NUTBAG? You wanna see a nutbag?"

The frantic volleys of goo flew even more erratically through the air as they threw the battle into overdrive.

I crept along the edges of the building until I reached the only place far enough that still allowed a visual contact on the group. Raven stood absolutely still where I arrived and did nothing to acknowledge my presence, but her shadow seemed to extend forward as I neared. I settled slowly nearby and watched the scene before us as Starfire neared the battling children and received a heavy goo blow to the face.

"My bad!"

The Tamaranian seemed to embrace the gesture...

"Please, allow me to return the favor!"

...to the extreme.

"They've been going at it for almost an hour and a half," she stated. "At this rate, we'll finish cleaning this place sometime after midnight."

I turned to Raven; she stood motionlessly beside me, and I watched her for only a moment before...

"Do you accept?"

The question.

My eyes left the stoic figure for only the moment, and watched the four other Titans wildly flinging their goo between fits of laughter and mocking jeers. The sun finished setting behind them and external lights of the tower flickered on automatically.

My gaze settled back to the dark figure beside me: I could already feel the empath reaching at me, the pinpricks tickled corners of my mind.

_He cocked his head as he waited for the answer._

_I couldn't do it._

_Illogical._

_Insane._

_Dangerous._

"Yes."

The Titans continued laughing in the distance...

_He leaned in discreetly and spoke in a whisper that was louder than all of the noise around me._

"_You won't regret this."_

_I chose to believe the lie..._

Raven caught my eye and barely displayed the signs of a nod.

"You made the right decision."

...I chose to believe it again.

—

The car had been turned off for a good ten minutes.

The dark-skinned man inside sat absolutely still; his hat, brown and faded, was reminiscent of an old detective film.

A violent jerk finally disrupted the stillness in the automobile; the man lifted his left hand up and raised the silver watch on his wrist to eye level. The second hand clicked twice then settled on the sixty-minute mark, completing the hour; the face read exactly three o'clock.

The man sighed heavily then reached for the car door handle. He gently pushed it open and stepped outside the car; the air was fresh and crisp, and stars shown brightly over the vacant lot as he walked slowly across under an overcoat. He reached a heavy wooden door and hesitated before turning the knob; his hand hovered above the brass handle as he mumbled quietly to himself.

Inhaling deeply, he clasped the doorknob and turned it.

The door slowly opened with a piercing squeak.

He stepped carefully in and closed the door forcefully behind him. The man turned forward and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room; it was barren, drafty, and lifeless.

He walked across the room and entered a second door. Closing the second behind him, the man squinted and stared down the long hallway that extended before him: single light bulbs dimly lit the hallway with several feet in between each interval.

He slowly followed the straight path, vaguely aware that it was on a slight decline. Several minutes later, he arrived to the end of the hallway and followed the two left successive left turns into a hallway that descended gradually more.

The man finally arrived after another set of minutes to a solid brass door; he reached forward and, in a familiar display, hesitated heavily.

He gripped the knob full force, opened it, and stepped into the light.

The floor was a finely polished, solid black marble; a low white light warmly illuminated the small room. The only object in the room was a desk that faced the entrance, and behind it, a young man sat busily at a computer.

The door closed.

He walked over to the desk.

"You're late," the young man at the computer stated without moving his eyes from his work.

The older man cleared his throat and began his response. "Well, there was a small matter and I had to—"

"They're waiting for you."

The man stood with the rest of the excuse still hanging in his mouth. He sighed and walked to the double doors that stood beside the desk; arriving, he reached out without the slightest delay, opened a door, and quickly stepped in.

The first thing he heard was absolute silence.

Not a single sound penetrated the air around him.

Slowly a faint glow grew before him and weak silhouettes of seated figures were barely outlined around a semicircular table raised high in front of him; nothing else in the room was remotely visible except the outline of an empty chair at the very center position of the table.

The man continued walking forward to the empty space in the middle of the room before the semicircle and stopped.

Silence continued as he waited for a response.

Finally, he ventured a thought.

He motioned in the dark towards the empty chair. "Where's—"

"Away on business," one of the men answered brusquely.

A dead silence conquered the room.

He tried again.

"Why exactly am—"

"You've been summoned under our request for a specific matter that concerns us," the same person answered coldly.

Another figure continued the instruction. "We've received word of your operation..."

"...and a certain explosion has come to our attention," finished a third.

"Along with," continued the second voice, "the fact that a certain name was exhibited publicly."

The man in the middle of the floor faltered visibly. "Exhibited? Are you talking about the explosion they set off? It was just a scare tactic, nobody even knows anything about the nam—"

"It was in broad daylight with a clear message."

The man fingered the hem of his sleeves in absolute silence.

"Defeat never arrives to Him with no name."

"It wasn't my fault," he responded quickly, "the two of them followed their plan without my—"

"It is your sector," the first figure interrupted while standing with shadowed wrath. "You were directly responsible for its success and failure."

The man clenched his hands and attempted to keep himself straight, despite the cold tension that suddenly gripped the room. He lowered his face and fumbled for an answer. "I-I will correct the matter immediately. They will be punished."

"Yes... they will..."

He unfurled his fist and loosened his jaw; his head slowly rose and the warmth returned to his face.

A light whistle slipped from the semicircle, like a faint call to a canine. The man's knees buckled beneath him, and he collapsed onto the floor.

A thin red stream leaked from the hole in his forehead to the black marble floor below it.

Light smoke trailed from the hand of the first man.

"Was that really necessary?" the third voice asked with slight irritation.

"Absolutely," he answered. "Failure is not tolerated."

The second figure nodded. "We needed someone better there in any case."

The shadows in the room grew longer, wider, darker.

Silence.

_Click._


	15. Day One I

"You gotta swing from your elbow... kinda like throwing a baseball."

_Thwwat._

That didn't help.

"Throw your shoulder into it, that'll put power behind the hit and it'll ease the strain on the joints of the body."

My fingers tightened slowly and I attempted another swing at the padded pole that stood straight before me.

_THWACK._

"Hmm, good power, but it still needs some control. The strength of the attack doesn't matter if it hits nothing but air. And the targets _never_ stand still."

I twisted sideways and threw my arm back as I whipped the weapon out in a sudden swing; it cut through the air, spinning madly across the training room.

_Crack._

A blunt end hit the center of the distant target and the weapon bounced off cleanly, leaving a distinct fracture that spread outwards from the point of impact. Robin's eyes followed the invisible path of the throw to my outstretched hand.

"We'll make sure to tell every villain to stand exactly that far away every time you fight him," he stated with no interest. He motioned towards the weapon on the floor with his head. "Now, let's try this again..."

—

It was interesting really: I blocked every starbolt, despite the fact that the force of each one bent my arms inward and genuinely caused a painful sensation to rip through my arm muscles. But at the same time, the smooth, solid composition of the weapons in my hands discreetly absorbed the blasts and simultaneously sent sweet waves of searing energy coursing through my entire nervous system.

A stream of starbolts skimmed past just as I ducked out of the way.

So maybe I didn't block them _all_...

"Decent projectile deflection."

Glinting steel flashed towards my head, and I instinctively brought the weapon in my right hand to block it.

"Let's see some personal defense."

The opposite end of the bo staff unexpectedly jabbed in from the left side; instantly, my opposite hand swung down to meet it...

...seconds before it would hit my kneecap. I looked up at the solemn boy standing before me; Robin was completely calm: not a single emotion on his face, not a single hair out of place, not even a single drop of sweat anywhere on him.

Angrily, I pushed the staff away and shifted back into a defensive stance. Amid my deep breaths, my fingers tapped anxiously along the length of the weapons in my hands, hot air around me cooled down to a slow stop, and silence held between us.

...It was daunting, to say the least.

Robin rushed forward in a single sweeping motion and brought the staff down from above his head before I could see him lift it.

_Clank._

A cross formed by the two weapons in my hands was raised firmly above me, securely holding the swinging attack that had been heading in my direction. For a single second, the clash held. Muscles tensed as the opposing forces increased and a metallic crunch floated above me. My eyes diverted for a split second and I glanced at Robin's face once more.

The stoic stare lingered coldly.

And the attacking force of the staff abruptly pulled away and came again at my knees. I sprung up slightly, leaned my upper torso back, and barely managed to clear both the sweep and the stab that accompanied it. My feet had hardly landed back on the stone floor when the blows continued.

Jab.

Swing.

Block.

They came faster and faster and I frantically fought to fend them off with jerking thrusts of the my tightly gripped weapons. Suddenly, the bo staff cut back and Robin came back at me with a wide horizontal slash; my hands flew to the side in response and met the steel again.

I paused...

...and cast a quick look at the floor behind me where my weapons laid. A general feeling of shame swept over me as my empty hands flexed in absence of the weapons they had only recently held. I immediately turned to face Robin, and lowered my stance–despite my heavy breathing–in preparation for the next attack.

He simply stood up and held his bo staff behind his back. "Don't worry too much about that. It's only your second day with those, and we haven't even really had time to go over all of the defensive techniques. Besides, a complete mastery of escrima takes years to accomplish."

I bent down without averting my eyes and carefully took the escrima sticks back into my hands; the smooth, strong feel of the weapons were a welcome feel back into the palms of my cramping hands. We'd been training for nearly three hours, the last thirty minutes of which had been spent in basic one-on-one combat with different opponents; needless to say, my stamina was slightly wavering.

"How do you know how to handle these?" I asked in complete distraction.

"I..." Robin started, "picked it from a teacher." His voice quickly lost its inflective tone. "And if I didn't use the bo staff, I would definitely go for a pair of sticks. I've been thinkin' about switching for sometime now, actually..."

He continued speaking, but my thoughts were completely focused on my slowly restoring stamina: each blow was becoming harder to belt out and I really didn't think I had much left in me. I drew a sharp inhale and looked forward; there were still a couple more left in me.

My body lunged forward with both sticks raised and I struck a blow down...

...into a bo staff already positioned to block the attack.

"Well, glad to see you're so enthusiastic about this," Robin quipped, as he held off the attack with the bo staff he held in one hand. "But if you want to start the offensive exercise than I think you'd better fight someone else."

A bright blue glow was my only warning as I dropped immediately back, narrowly missing the large column of sonic beam that tore through the air in front of me. I spun to my left and watched the smiling robot take a cocky step forward.

"Let's dance."

A second shot flew towards me as I dove under it and sprinted towards him.

"Dance?" I asked.

A third hit the place where my stomach had been only moments earlier.

"Dance?"

I hurtled over a fourth and slid to a long stop before him.

"Certainly... Let us dance."

It was a perpetual flurry of blows: I swung forward rapidly, rhythmically hammering away at Cyborg's defenses.

LEFT _right_ LEFT _right_ LEFT _right_ LEFT _right..._

Each hand flew to a different location at the beat and struck steel.

ONE_two_ONE_two_ONE_two_ONE_two_ONE

I tried to keep a fluid motion and get beneath his armor with each attack, but his structurally reinforced forearm cut around to block each blow as it came in. The final stroke hit his arm and he smacked it away with the same ease, while at the same time unleashing a sonic shot that nailed me directly in the right shoulder.

My torso spun back wildly and I struggled to control my balance; after gaining a steady footing, I shifted weight to the opposite leg and began pacing to my sides.

Fingers were twitching as I hungrily eyed the major electrical cables that ran along the robotic Titan's mechanized body frame.

_The sticks._

_Use the sticks._

Right.

My grip on the solid weapons in my hands tightened and my focus returned to the primary objective standing several meters in front of me.

"Skrojte vashu igrushk."

Cyborg's eyebrow lifted up. "Say what now?"

The single escrima stick spun wildly from my swinging hand, slicing through the air like a sharpened blade, and Cyborg reflexively brought up his arm to block the attack.

Perfect.

**CRSH**-_Blzzzt..._

"What the he—" Sparks flickered madly from the inside of his forearm. "You messed up my arm cannon!"

He glared up and barely caught sight of the second stick before it struck full force across the unprotected side of his head.

"GaH—"

I stood up proudly before him as he slowly moved back from the elegantly executed karate slap.

Our eyes quickly met, and he held a scowled smile. "Fine, one point."

Suddenly, a metallic arm swung from nowhere and caught me on the side of the stomach, sweeping me off my feet and launching me several meters away.

"Let's do first to twenty."

—

The ground was sturdy, dusty, and even, the type of ground that covered the drier parts of the country; it was the type of terrain that was usually flat and uninteresting, where you could look out and see miles of land in a single direction. Which, in this case, meant that—

**SHWOOOM.**

Recovering my balance, I sprinted forward before the sudden sound of a small click above me stopped me in my tracks.

**SHWOOOM.**

A small, cool gust blew across my body as I stopped centimeters from a wall that had not been there before. My hands reached out and felt a gap above it; I held onto the top and flung myself over before it could recede. Dust flew up as I hit the ground and lurched forward in a desperate leap, barely clearing the fall of a third guillotine-wall.

I barely passed the last gate when I heard the sound of something being fired nearby. I was in the air immediately and felt yet another gust of wind as more than one large object cut through the air underneath me; the ground provided no comfort as I landed and ran forward.

Too many close calls, too many gusts of wind; the obstacle course was difficult enough as it was without any of my own doing, and still I persisted forward.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

"TIME."

"Alright!"

My hands reached behind my head and I took in a deep breath as I slowed to a complete stop.

"2:25! That is wonderful completion time!" Starfire beamed as she flew closer.

I met her smile and nodded along; the smile on my face was genuine, but not for the reason that she assumed. Only a pair of hours ago, the computer archives had informed me that the top three times for that particular arrangement of the Titans' obstacle course ranged from two minutes and sixteen seconds to just under two minutes; I realized then that there was no reason for me to strive for the fastest time if it came at the risk of seeming like an egotist. Because what was the advantage of that?

"Nice job, Mika," Robin said, stepping away from the controls and joining the group. "Really good for the first time through."

My smile stayed up. I had drawn up a kind of distraction for myself to slow down the time, and at the time, the idea that seemed most feasible had been to do portions with my eyes closed; despite the shear recklessness of the concept and the sudden trouble I found myself in, my goal was only finishing a reasonable time after two-fifteen without giving myself away or making myself seem incompetent. And in that much, I had succeeded.

Blending in.

Nothing special, just another name on the roster.

"It was... fun," I replied, squinting against the morning light.

"If you think so," Cyborg answered, walking up to the central control panel and reaching for the dials. "Now, let's get this bad boy set up for the next run."

Beast Boy leaped out of his stance and reached over the controls before he could be blocked. "Who's the next victim on... The Course of No Return?" The green hummingbird zipped into the air like a broken firecracker before even getting a response.

Cyborg pretended to not be bothered as he swatted him away, but he reflexively focused his single red eye on the darting bird and smiled: "Why... that'd be you, Green Genes."

The hummingbird stopped mid-flap and instantly dropped onto the floor as a downcast Beast Boy. But his frown lasted only a split second and he was instantly back on his feet.

"No problem-o. Let's get this show started!" he exclaimed with pretty convincing enthusiasm.

Cyborg shook his head and laughed. "Just don't break the course..."

—

The log was leaking. Around the base, a small pool of pale yellow film had slowly formed over the last couple of moments. And there was no real desire within me to disturb it... ... ...

Fifteen minutes ago, we had settled down to the kitchen and gathered around the table. Just as a familiar glint twinkled in the eye of the nearby Cyborg, Raven spoke out: "I'll make breakfast."

Nobody raised a word of protest as a black skillet raised in the air and moved to the stove. The refrigerator creaked open, and I spied various cartons and boxes slowly sort themselves around.

"Uh, Raven," Robin then ventured, teetering on the noiseless calm that held the room, "since... since when do you know howda... cook?"

For some reason, I came to the realization that I had been holding my breath up to that moment. I then decided to hold it a little longer...

"I read cookbooks," she answered with the tiniest trace of defensiveness.

With an admirable disregard for delicacy, Beast Boy popped into the conversation: "But when have you... ...you know, like... _cooked_?"

Raven narrowed her eyes further. "I cook all the time."

"Recipes with 'eye of newt' don't count."

Robin choked back a laugh beside me, and I watched Cyborg's eyes widen with his smile as he muttered beneath his breath. "Big mistake... ... ..."

Now...

"I still can't believe you broke the course."

Beast Boy jumped out of his seat and stood up eye-to-eye to Cyborg in a ridiculous imitation of intimidation. "Dude, I _finished_ it, didn't I?"

"There was nothing left _TO_ finish!"

"Well, then... uh... mission accomplished?"

For a single second, Cyborg just stood with his mouth gaping wide – apparently, deep in a shock-induced coma and unable to respond; fortunately, diplomacy swooped in to interrupt the intellectual bout.

"We needed to update a lot of that equipment, in any case," Robin replied as he cautiously forked at the goo. "Now we have the perfect reason to do it."

Grumble...

A pale, yellow wrapping sat lazily before me; I poked it gingerly with the silver fork in my hand, watched it bleed a colorless liquid, and attempted to restart conversation. "I greatly enjoy th-the... There is a-a very distinct flavor in the... ... huh..." I backed away from the lip service. "...It is very good."

Everyone bored holes into their plates with their eyes.

"I... agree," Starfire proposed, "it is a very wonderful Lete of Om. It reminds me of the glorg from the fields of Tamaran."

"Huh..." Beast Boy added with slow disgust, "I never thought one day I'd be eating an alien species of egg."

Starfire's eyebrows lowered and she took on a look of deep thought for a moment. "It does not resemble the glorg creature very much..." She picked up the entire omelet and inspected it with great scrutiny as a thin strand of yellow fluid trailed down and slowly dropped back to the plate. "...it appears more like its droppings."

She shoveled it into her mouth.

I couldn't help but stare as she continued chewing happily on the raw breakfast we had been handed. The sight was disturbing to say the least, but the Titans were completely unfazed, at least on the outside: they went back to their own plates and attempted to make their own breakfast disappear. Despite my hardest attempts, I couldn't fight back the urge to see the reaction in the chef; Raven sat aside – omelet-less – bearing the same stoic face that she always possessed and returning my curious gaze. A weak smile settled pretentiously into my face, and I reached back down to the plate before me. Ten deep breaths later, I cautiously placed a small piece of the food inside of my mouth.

It wasn't too bad... if you didn't mind the runny texture or the bland taste... or the pale complexion... or the fact that there was probably salmonella in the raw eggs...

Robin coughed back his bite and spoke up. "We have an assignment."

"Assignment?" Cyborg retorted. "What happened? The Principal come and give us a detention?"

"Kinda."

All attention focused on the masked leader.

"You all remember Mayor Bellamy?"

An almost inaudible groan dripped from around the kitchen counter.

"You mean Mr. Fought-in-Vietnam?" Raven inquired with no distinguishable curiosity. "Mr. Trickle-down-tax-break, Jobs-for-loyalty, Safe-stance-on-everything, All-American?"

Silence.

Robin looked in her direction with a quick pause." ...Yeah."

Raven didn't physically respond until every eye was locked onto her; then, she nodded and merely looked away. "Just checking."

"Anyway... he asked a small favor from us today."

Across the counter, I watched Beast Boy cringe in exaggerated horror – or at least, what I thought was exaggeration because Cyborg and even Starfire's face soon mimicked the green shapeshifter's wince.

Green gloves went up in the air. "Don't worry, " he immediately added, "it's not that bad, really."

"That's what you said last time. It's what you always say!"

Robin shook his head. "I'm serious, this time we don't even have to shake anyone's hand. Easy as pie. Easier even." He smiled apologetically. "Trust me, it'll be fun."

—

"_Halle Berry._"

_Silence._

"Dude, I knew you were gonna say that."

"_Really? Why?"_

_Static._

"_...Cause she's black?"_

_Static._

"Uh... I was gonna say it was cause she had short hair."

_Complete silence filled the airwaves._

""

""

Big wispy clouds hovered high above the city, floating like cotton caught in a breeze.

"_I still say Meryl Streep._"

"_Robin, not again..._"

"_Look, all I'm saying is that the woman has four Oscars. They don't give those things out to just anyone, and she's got four of 'em. Obviously, she's good enough to be the best._"

"_She's old enough to be my grandma._"

_A staticy pause._

The sun shone brightly in the sky but somehow managed not to cast too much heat into the city; the wind was fair and pleasant, more than anyone could ask for.

"..."

"_So?_"

"_So the woman has interchangeable parts for her hair, hip, and teeth!_"

"_We're talking about theatrical ability here—"_

"—_And theatrical ability includes the ability to sell yourself into a role."_

"_She sells herself!"_

"_As what? A corpse?"_

"_As an ACTRESS!"_

"_She's a billion and two years old, Robin."_

"_I don't see how that has anything to do with—_"

"—Duvall!" Beast Boy shouted, interrupting Robin's reply.

_The other two communicators didn't respond for several seconds._

If I had to guess, I would've estimated that it was a little above twenty degrees outside.

""

"_Who?_"

"Shelley Duvall."

"_Wait... ... the mom from The Shining?_"

"Yeah."

_A full minute passed devoid of conversation._

_The static happily continued droning through the communicators._

"_Beast Boy, we're being serious here—_"

"I **am** serious!"

"_I still say that we—_"

"Wait, wait, listen to me!"

There was a momentary pause in the conversation and Beast Boy dove right in without hesitation.

"Shelley Duvall is so incredibly ugly, she's so nasty-scary-creepy-looking, so pale and zombie... ish?... that she goes completely off the bottom of the ugly spectrum... ... and comes out from top of the good acting spectrum."

"..."

The only noise was birds chirping in the background, the faint buzz of empty static, and the sound of gaping mouths hanging open on the other side of communicators.

I didn't even _try_ to understand what he was talking about...

"_How... does that... even—_"

"—_Beast Boy... that makes zero sense._"

"_How... is that remotely related—_"

Suddenly, Raven's annoyed voice interrupted the heat of the philosophical debate. "_Does anyone **else** think we have more _important_ concerns right now?_"

Pebbles beneath me shuffled loudly as my hands moved from behind my head to my stomach; as I lay quietly on the roof staring up at the unbelievable sky, I lazily realized that I had no visual contact with the targets. But then again, neither did Beast Boy, who had been busy arguing passionately into the little yellow communicator in his hands for the past half hour. The floor crunched as I slipped up to my feet and crouched back to the side of the roof, resting my forearms on the metal rim of the roof and focusing away.

In the far distance, a sea of people were gathered around a decorated platform – banners, balloons, and bright colors adorned the stage where a single person stood at a microphone and spoke to the herd, which was too far away to be distinguishable and blended together into a mass of standing and swaying citizens that resembled a sea anemone. Faint traces of a voice flowed over their heads and crossed the distance between the gathering and our position on the roof of the building; it was strong and obviously very enthusiastic but it ultimately came out as nothing but muffled shouts and laughter.

Only moments before, we had been told that the Mayor had requested the presence of the Titans at the event, though not in plain sight; apparently, we were invited to attend the opening of a local store from the "largest commercial retailer of wholesale consumer goods in the world" that was now opening their ten thousandth store in this city. It was called Wolmat or something...

The Mayor had stated that he was concerned with the opening because it was a multi-million dollar deal that would bring a completely new market facet to the city's citizens. And having several hundred people packed together in such an open place seemed like more than an ideal invitation for any crazed psychopath to mow down rows of victims with little warning.

We were basically crowd control for a sea of housewives.

"_Raven's right, but don't worry about it too much,_" came Robin's reply over the communicator. "_As good as Mayor Bellamy's intentions are, I don't honestly think they really need us here._"

There was a momentary pause as the reassurance settled in peacefully.

"_Besides... what really matters is the fact that Ms. Streep—_"

"Gah!"

"_Oh, c'mon!_"

In the shady distance, a light flashed between two buildings and I caught sight of Cyborg in the alleyway next to Raven throwing his hands up in complete exasperation. Beside me, Beast boy was doing no better...

"Psh, like an _Oscar_ means anything! Has a sci-fi movie or a western or a COMEDY ever gotten an Oscar? **No**! You know why? Cause those things are fixed! _Fixed_! Like a horny house pet!" He didn't even pause to breath. "Besides, my idea was **great**! I mean, it made sense to _you_, right?"

Beast Boy spun around like a deranged grizzly bear with its hindleg caught in trap and a dire need to shed human blood.

Immediately, I opened my mouth, lifted my index finger... and wondered if this was going to be one of those times when people could tell I didn't care enough to pay attention.

"Tak... yes?"

"Exactly!" He threw his arms up in emphasis and strangely resembled Cyborg. "It's all about Duvall logic!"

Maybe it was better if I said nothing at all...

Across the chasm, I spotted Robin and Starfire crouching on the edge of a roof directly next to the store. Despite being in broad daylight, they were still well concealed and would probably not be spotted unless someone was specifically looking for them in that spot; without a doubt, they were in the position to best oversee the actions of the crowd from above. Regardless, they didn't seem to be concentrating any harder on the assignment than anyone else: Starfire was visibly chuckling and Robin held a smirk that could not have come from any amount of observational vigilance.

For a second, I wondered what it was that they were discussing. Were they discussing an old story of theirs? Telling jokes? Did Starfire understand Terran jokes? Did Robin understand alien jokes? What could two people so inherently different talk over?

"But look where he's facing." I turned and realized Beast Boy had been speaking to me with the last comment. He nodded and pointed with his finger back over to the other building. "Check out Robin's attention."

I looked back out to the two Titans and squinted against the sunlight. A tap at my shoulder made me aware of a pair of binoculars that Beast Boy was holding out to me.

"Oh... right." The lenses came up and I peered at the two with ridiculously accuracy; they continued chatting and smiling as I had observed before. It took me a couple of seconds to notice the movement of Robin's head: every couple of seconds it shifted only minorly to the side and moved back.

"Watching everything around him." Beast Boy sat down beside and leaned back with his hands holding him up behind his back. "Even when he's talking and laughing, he's lookin' around and listening." Beast Boy chuckled as if laughing at a joke only he heard. "It's how he always stays ahead of the bad guys."

I nodded and put down the binoculars. "Is that why he's the leader?"

"I don' know," he said as he smiled and shrugged a little bit, "it's probably just because he's the only one who could keep us all together this long."

"What about Cyborg? He has leadership." I asked, "And so do you."

He laughed out loud and shook his head. "No, trust me," he looked back over to the crowd around the store. "It just feels right to follow Robin, like somehow you _know_ you're on the winning team."

The last phrase caught my interest and I held it in my head. "I believe I know what you mean," I replied, thinking back. "You follow because it would feel incorrect not to do so. It involves instinct and feeling, not logic."

"Uh... sure." Beast Boy held up a goofy smile while still being obviously confused... leaving him with the oddly cute expression of a small puppy; he reached behind his ear and scratched it lightly while staring off. "Yeah, I guess that's it."

"I assume that helps the team run more smoothly, everyone feeling that way."

"Ha, not even!" Beast Boy exclaimed while jumping up from his spot on the roof. "Don't even get me started on all the sorts of problems that still come up. Last time we were up here, I was standing over there and then..."

Suddenly, he acquired a very curious look in his eye that gave me the distinct impression that he was talking more to the air than to me...

...And it took an hour for him to finish getting "getting started." By that time, I was back on the rooftop comfortably laying on my back with Beast Boy casually slumped against the roof edge beside me. He had gone on a wild tangent and explained a story about various problems that appeared recently and random arguments during the beginning days of the Titans; apparently, there wasn't always as much happiness in paradise as I had initially believed.

"_Look–_**Bzzzt**–_all I'm saying is that_–**Bzzzt**–_and Juliet seems pretty shallow to me_**–Bzzzt–**"

We both stared at our communicators before looking back at each other with the same expression.

"..._Yeah, I know_–**Bzzzt**–_wrote more stuff, Raven. I'm–_**Bzzzt**–_saying..._"

Beast Boy laughed beside me and peeked over the edge of the roof towards the alleyway on the other side of the street. I followed his stare and could barely make out the shape of Cyborg crouched beside a dumpster with Raven leaning determinedly against the wall opposite of him.

"Dude, I think Raven's accidentally pressing her communicator," Beast Boy commented, taking out his own and inspecting it carefully. "That used to happen me a whole bunch until I stopped putting it in my back pocket when I sat down."

"...**Bzzzt**–_was twelve years old!–_**Bzzzt**–_just seems like..._"

"He seems to thoroughly enjoy arguing." Even if I didn't know exactly what they were talking about, I picked up enough from the muffled conversation to realize that Cyborg was failing to prove whatever point he was trying to make. "Why does he like it?"

"I dunno," he replied. "But whatever it is, he's probably just makin' it up as he goes along. Cy's kinda like that."

"He lies?"

"No!" he answered a little too quickly. "He just... just — Cyborg _knows_ a lot of stuff about everything. Not just cars and machines... I mean, he knows a **lot** about stuff like cleanings supplies and art and... like, sewing!" I casually glanced down at my feet and flexed my toes inside of my magical red slippers. Well, he certainly wasn't lying about that...

"And everything he _doesn't_ know about... ..." A weird grin crept onto Beast Boy's face as he stared off with memory-draped eyes. "...he knows about anyway."

I couldn't help but share his grin: everyone on the team was definitely more than meets the eye, and I was slowly finding that to be more and more true as time went by; I only wished that all of the surprises I would be finding would be as innocent and benign as the robot's...

"_Okay, so Mika..._" Cyborg interrupted. We both jerked away from our livened communicators. "..._now that you're a Titan, I think its time we run you through the last evaluation._"

Beast Boy's grin suddenly morphed into an uneasy smile, complete with nervous laughter. "Hah, Cy... uh... don't you... don't you think maybe we're rushing this?"

"_Beast Boy could be right_," Robin added, "_do you think she's ready?_"

"_Yes, perhaps we should delay the final examination until a safer time as we are on an assignment and lacking appropriate cover, and there are many innocent civilians below_—"

"_Don't worry 'bout it, Starfire,_" Cyborg answered. "_I think she's up to the challenge of taking it._" He paused. "_Or at least, I think she is..._" I could feel him switching his attention over the frequency on me. "_Alrigh'... Mika?_"

Breathless seconds passed before I realized that he was waiting for audible confirmation.

"Ah, yes."

"_Mika, here goes... ... ... ..._"

The crushing static took over briefly and the tension mounted like a sealed volcano.

"_Cow or chicken?_"

The only thing that came to my immediate mind was how much I resembled a fish: mouth hanging open, holding a deep breath, and feeling awkwardly out of water. Suddenly it came to me; it was a trick question: the cow was a symbol of domestication, a large, muscular creature with rich milk and a powerful build that could survive easily on its on own in the wild but had been condemned to an bottomless well in a factory prison cell; the chicken obviously stood for its natural handicap which consisted of possessing wings but never being able to fly away to its destiny, its ultimate dream.

He was asking me why I was there: because of something that they had tied to me in the tower, or because I couldn't leave by own abilities; it was an inquiry into my character, a subtle-yet-revealing analysis of my decision to become a Titan. So I made the decision that made the most sense, the only choice that I knew could answer the _real_ question.

"Pig."

The communicator ran silent for a second before it burst into laughter. Beast Boy covered his mouth and tried to hide his laughing as the response came through the airwaves.

"_Oh, a bacon girl, eh?_"

I didn't know how to answer.

"_Ship or plane?_" Robin asked through the static.

...The ship navigated through the waters in _all_ types of weather, while airplanes were restricted to clearer weather and—

"Vanilla or strawberry?" Beast Boy managed to ask beside me.

"...Choco—"

"—_Blorthog or Gorb-Gorb?_"

What?

"_Matisse or Picasso?_" came the dry question.

My head began to feel slightly skewed.

"_Sunny-side or scrambl—_"

"—Pirates or ninj—"

"—_Bill or Linu—_"

"—_Paper or plastic?_"

I gripped the communicator in my hand. "Steel!"

That only succeeded in more laughter and, like a swarm of auditory bees, the random questions continued to swoop out of nowhere and sting mercilessly:

"_Light or dark sid—_"

"—C or Marve—"

"—_igital or vinyl—_"

"—_ony or Microsof—_"

"—_upes or Bat—_"

The words began blurring together and I finally gave up hope of answering.

"—_ustard or the ketchu—_"

"—icken or the eg—"

"—_reud or Jung—_"

"—_utomatic or manual trans—_"

"—_I don't like the way he looks_."

I paused and gained stability at the faint recognition of Robin's voice. The way... who looks?

"_What's wrong, now?_" Raven asked nonchalantly, but from above, I could see her already sinking away into the shadows of the alley.

"_He's been nervously shifting back and forth the whole time, and he hasn't even pretended to pay attention to anything the Mayor's been saying," _he replied. "_There was a glint from the inside of his coat and there's a bulge roughly the size of a handgun._"

I lowered the communicator and cast a look at the crowd as I realized what he had meant: in the extreme right corner, people huddled together en masse around the edge of the platform, but a single man was offset from the rest of the group. We moved to the edge of the roof as the man nervously fumbled around with his shirtsleeves through the magnification of my binoculars.

Fumbled around and reached into his inner coat pocket for something the size of a...

"_Get over there!_"

We burst off the rooftop, and I managed to latch onto Beast Boy's scaly leg before the initial drop. The ground rushed behind as we glided over the sidewalk and finally stuck the ground in a dead sprint. As I ran ahead, I spotted the two figures of Starfire and Robin moving quickly on the rooftops and over onto the brand new store; at their rate, they would no doubt reach the suspect shortly after Beast Boy and I. In the crowd itself, I suddenly noticed Cyborg and Raven being forced to take the long route around the numerous people. They moved discretely, but it was obvious they weren't going to make it on time.

**GRAAWW.**

The green cat pounced forward with a growl that was slightly too loud and tore away towards the nearing crowd. I followed as quickly as possible from behind, concentrated on the distant man rifling nervously through the inside of his coat, and fought with the simplest of thoughts.

What a terrible place to kill someone: a small column of balloons stood directly in line with the suspicious-looking man... blatantly obscuring his vision; the banner across the platform hung low enough to even prevent any precise aiming to the head of the speaker; and it would take an expert marksman to possibly reach someone on the platform from that far away with any kind of handgun that could be hidden inside a coat pocket...

Beast Boy pounced just as Robin leaped down from the roof to the man in the crowd.

"No, wait!" I shouted.

At the same time that the leopard pounced onto the man, the same realization slapped itself across Robin's face.

He twisted mid-air and threw out a line in desperation; zipping through the air, it barely caught the end of a lone street lamp in the parking lot and immediately went taught, jerking him back and throwing the grimacing Titan into a dumpster on the shadowed side of the store.

Amidst the back of the crowd, the green leopard extended its claws before the frightened man's face in mock threat... and was suddenly swallowed up by a living shadow.

From my mingled position with the startled crowd, I watched Beast Boy drop down from a dark corner far from the crowd with a loud _yelp_. Raven materialized behind him as he shrunk down to his green elf figure and held his apparently dizzy head. On the opposite side of the area, Starfire floated down into the alleyway beside the crowd as Robin discreetly and sheepishly climbed off of the dumpster.

On the floor beside the crowd, the same man remained absolutely motionless on the black pavement... save for the occasional twitch in his outstretched hands that held a small, silver 35 mm camera.

Someone in front of me spun around in confusion and hurriedly exclaimed, "What was _that_?"

I shrugged and mustered up my most bewildered look as I pretended to search around for the source of such an odd disturbance.

"...Mmm ...Lightning?"

—

"You think they noticed us?"

On the television screen, a man crazily shouted away into a microphone while motioning frantically at his camera; beside him, a slick reporter watched with blatantly smug amusement and occasionally intervened with brief commentary. Meanwhile, the phrase "Man Attacked by Tiger and Flying Monkey" scrolled continuously across the bottom of the screen.

"No, not at all," Raven muttered.

All six of us stood conspicuously huddled around the window of an electronics store and stared at the mute images that more-or-less recounted the events of the previous hour; we pulled in closer as the report continued.

"Well..." Cyborg added, "at least our assault on a completely innocent and now terrified man was a complete loss..."

The television report switched to a shaky, handheld camera-quality video of police officers tackling two fleeing characters to the ground and struggling to place handcuffs on their wrists.

"I guess so," Robin said, "if the cops wouldn't have come to help that guy who was— er... accidentally brushed up... then they wouldn't have been there to identify those two wanted car thieves, either."

Beast Boy stepped back from the group and yawned with drippy satisfaction. "Yup, 'was all according to the master plan."

The rest of the Titans left the storefront and ventured out to the sidewalk.

Cyborg playfully laughed from the front of the group. "'Cause nothing works as good as the old 'Tiger and Flying Monkey' trick. Gets 'em every time, that one."

"Okay, it was a mistake," Robin admitted. He smirked and shook his head softly. "I guess we'll just have to spend a little more time in practice to make up for it."

"If I remember correctly, Boy Monkey, _you_ were the one who spotted the vicious old man and saved us from his dangerous camera."

Silence.

"...Hey, you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?"

"..."

"Hah!—"

"—Okay, John Travol—"

"—Nice job of avoiding the topic—"

"—do not understand. What is a pound of quarters?"

Robin smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry about it , Star." He kept walking and pointed ahead. "Anyone up for some pizza?"

A collective laugh escaped from the group as we neared a familiar-looking pizzeria; I could feel a breeze of the cool air inside creep out as the door swung open and we casually strolled into the restaurant. As soon as I got over the temperature difference, I joined the Titans as the made their way to the table where they had sat the first time I had seen them in the city.

Three Titans on each bench.

Three on both sides of the table.

"The usual?"

I froze in place as the waiter appeared beside the table flipped out a small notepad. Out of the corner of my eye, I recognized the cheap pants, bright red vest, and plastic nametag of the man who had waited me on the last occasion I had been in the restaurant. And it suddenly seemed like a good idea to keep my head down for the rest of the visit.

"Mika, do you want anything else?"

So much for the plan...

"Mmm... no, I'm okei."

My face remained turned as I tried to wait out the moment... mostly in vain.

"You sure?" the waiter insisted. "We've got a really good barbecue pizza on special this wee..."

I turned to watch his expression turn to confusion; recognition visibly circled around his face as he squinted at my face. Knowing exactly how identifiable my accent was no matter how well I tried to hide it, I shook my head and pretended to listen to something that Starfire was saying beside me. Eventually, the order was set and I was able to release a sigh of relief. Finally, I relaxed, unclenched my hands, and paid attention to the conversation going on beside me.

The Titans discussed various things – mostly people and events that I was unfamiliar with... but they did occasionally refer to people by names that I knew meant that they were superhuman types. It was thoroughly interesting and wholly overwhelming at the same time, like trying to take a sip of water from a firehouse; I caught bits and pieces of information and felt oddly wiser afterward for knowing it, even though I really didn't know what it meant.

Although, I'm sure someday it would be important to know that "Aqualad has gorgeous hair"...

"Man, I really think I should grow it out like him."

For some reason, everyone just casually turned away and found something that demanded their immediate interest elsewhere...

"Sure thing... ..." Robin answered.

"_I_ believe it is a **wonderful** idea, Beast Boy!" Starfire exclaimed with enough enthusiasm to fill a small lake. "Then we can engage in the traditional braiding of the hair and sharing of unhealthy snacks during the night." She smiled widely and grabbed a small, yellow bottle. "Oh, I cannot wait!"

Then she swung back like an experienced drinker and downed the entire bottle.

Yes, good old mustard...

"Meanwhile Beast Boy enjoys his little girly shindig," Cyborg began, after everyone had comfortably watched the chugged bottle go back down, "I think we'd like to know how our little robot problem is going."

All eyes turned to Robin as he leaned back in the bench. "It's going nowhere. Every time we have a lead, it comes to a dead end. No results, no explanations, nothing. Same goes for our favorite acronym: I've run so many searches, I'm beginning to think it's completely made up." He sighed and shrugged in mock surrender. "There have been no more attacks, but that doesn't really mean anything. For all we know, whoever did it is just waiting for a better time to attack."

A dull lull settled around the group just as the smell of melted cheese and crisp bread overtook the small table.

"...and here we go: one Meat Supreme, one Veggie Delight and one regular pepperoni." The waiter carefully set down three steaming trays and gave a quick smile to the table. "I'll be back in a second with your drinks."

There was a visible pause as everyone suddenly dove in and tore away a slice or two and brought it home to their plates.

Silence.

Apparently, the only time there was ever complete and absolute quiet among the Titans was when there was food on the line, and three pizzas was plainly not something that was messed with easily. Really said a lot about the priorities...

And the silence remained for a grand total of eight minutes while the remaining pieces were torn away. I ended up grabbing one or two slices from each of the pizzas and – overall – they weren't half bad.

"Any word on Moth? Or Atlas?" Cyborg continued, as if he hadn't just inhaled nearly an entire pizza by himself.

"Police reports have indicated a lack of presence for both criminals," Starfire replied, and happily nibbled on a napkin. "There are no more traces of either criminals in either official records or our own databases."

"—How are we going to pay for this?"

Everyone turned to me with a completely distracted look.

...I really _should_ pay more attention...

"They'll put it on the tab," Cyborg answered, "and we'll probably just leave a tip. And actually..." He turned and faced the green elf beside him. "...I believe its... _your_ turn to do the honors."

Beast Boy grinned and spoke with whiny voice: "Uh-uh, I don't tip."

Cyborg took some kind of a cue from that and gruffed up his own voice. "You don't tip?"

"Nah, I don't believe in it."

"You don't believe in tipping? You know what these chicks make? They make sh—"

"**_That's_** okay..." Robin interrupted; he shook his head and tried not to smile. "You guys are terrible..."

The waiter arrived with five cups and a replacement bottle of mustard balanced precariously on the circular tray on his right hand; he quickly set down the first cups and passed them down the line before handing out the yellow bottle to Starfire.

"Here we go," he said. "A coke for you and... an unsweetened tea for the lady."

He reached over the table with the cup in his hand and offered it forward; Raven turned unconcerned and reached with fingers outstretched for the cup just as—

**SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.**

Blinking back tears, I fought to readjust my burning eyes to the brightness of the restaurant. Slowly the room lost its overwhelming sheen and when the world finally came into focus, the first thing I saw was Raven sitting at the end of the bench... soaked in tea.

"Has anyone else noticed how often these kinda things interrupt our activities?" Beast Boy grumbled out loud, to no one in particular.

"Titans, trouble!"

Everyone sprung from the benches and shot out towards the doors; we burst out into the street just as another flash shot out.

**SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.**

"Hello, Titans! Here to let me _brighten_ your day?"

I followed the voice – once the burning light cleared – to a thin figure stand several meters away. He wore a black suite with a long, white cape draped around his shoulders and an odd helmet with a shark fin attachment on top of it; his extended hands hung loosely in the air and glowed as brightly as his leering smile.

"You know what they say: head for the light at the end of the tunnel!"

A thick of beam of light shot out towards the group as we all scattered in different directions. I managed to dash aside just as another ray hit the street where I had been; Cyborg was in a defensive crouch beside me and I moved closer to speak to him.

"Who _is_ that durak? Why does he keep repeating puns?" I asked, keeping an eye on the wild shots that started flashing out.

"Name's Doctor Light, and he's a complete nut. But don't worry..." Another beam hit the area just as I pulled away. "...we got it covered!"

He took off in the opposite direction and casually fired away his sonic cannon at the sneering villain.

"Ha!"

A second shot rung out and went wide by about the same margin to the opposite site.

"You missed, you overgrown pocket knife!" Light yelled.

"But _we_ won't."

Robin lunged forward with me close behind as I tried to imitate the lead he had quickly told me to follow. I landed with an escrima stick already swinging and started to hammer away. To my complete surprise, most of the blows struck. Beside me, the bo staff moved slowly and very deliberately, as if wanting to be blocked.

A quick look to the masked boy revealed that he seemed completely unconcerned with the battle; he finally turned gave me some kind of nod to follow. I slipped away, ducking beneath a flimsy punch, just as Robin did the same, and a small hail of starbolts struck the floor directly before Doctor Light.

He moved back from the shots with embarrassing trouble and took a good while in regaining his balance before coming back with a taunt.

"You'll have to try harder than _that_ to blow out THIS candle! And you—"

All of a sudden, he stopped mid-rant and looked around with a nervous look on his face.

"...um... er... ...W-Where... Where's the Dark One?"

The black bird emerged right beneath his feet and Raven rose with a single hand ominously held forward.

"Boo."

"GAH!" The former villain leaped back to a crouch with unconcealed, unabashed terror. "Don't... hurt me."

Even from far away, I could still distinctly see her scowl as she leaned forward.

"Don't give me... A. Reason. To."

...And then, Doctor Light passed out.

I stared with complete disbelief as the Titans joined up and surrounded the fallen foe with no discernible worry.

"Dude, I didn't even **get** to go at 'im this time!"

On the edges of the street, small numbers of people came out and started murmuring among themselves as the Titans continued.

"Do not worry, friend Beast Boy, I too feel the battle was somewhat... unfulfilling."

"Anybody know if he was actually _after_ anything?" Raven put forward.

"Not that I can tell," Cyborg answered. "But then again, he is getting worse."

"Do enemies normally faint like that?" I asked.

The Titans shifted in their stances – interestingly, looking in the direction opposite of Raven – and hesitated only slightly, but it was enough.

I hit another nerve...

"Doctor Light isn't what you'd call a _high_ caliber villain, mostly just petty robberies and stuff," Robin answered dismissively, before changing the subject. "Beast Boy, how about we make it up to you?"

The green set of ears literally stood up...

"You can actually carry him to go turn him in with me."

...and dropped back down.

"...so lame..." he muttered loudly, walking over to pick up the limp criminal as Robin followed closely behind.

"We'll just head back to the tower," Cyborg shouted, moving toward the T-Car parked in the distance.

"Wait..." We turned right back around as Robin continued. "...did anyone leave the tip?"

Silence.

Robin looked at Starfire.

Starfire looked at Raven.

Raven looked at me.

I looked at Cyborg.

Cyborg looked at Beast Boy.

And Beast Boy just smiled.

"If you're expecting me to help out, you're in for a big fu—"

"Nevermind..."

—

"...and she's got an Oscar too, it's not like _that_ makes a huge difference."

The door to the Main Room slid open and I trudged out, following Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven.

"I think it comes down to the fact that she's too hot to... be taken... ... seriously... ... ..."

The scene before us was of a tornado; one that had started in the direct center of the Tower.

"Check for major structural damage, stolen valuables, then your own rooms" Cyborg said quickly, "I'll check the tower security logs for any unusual detections and unauthorized entries. Remember that there still might be somebody hidden here."

My first reaction was to push the overturned couch back upright, but cushions, plates, cardboard boxes, and plastic utensils littered the floor, and I struggled to get around the cluttered Main Room while avoiding them. Starfire darted quickly around in the air, checking the walls and floors closely, while Raven raked aside the grounded objects into vaguely similar piles to clear more room.

Less than a minute later, all three of us were racing down the hall toward our respective rooms and the personal effects stored within.

We may have been crimefighters, but we were still girls...

"Don't worry," Raven stated coldly, as if replying to some question we had asked, "there's nobody here, I would have sensed them by now otherwise."

Sense.

She _sensed_ our worry. My worry.

I'm starting to slip...

No time for that.

I physically closed my eyes and pushed the thought out of my head; the door _swished_ open in front of me and I opened up to see... ... ...nothing.

Everything was exactly as it had been when I left in the morning: bureau with the lamp and radio undisturbed, white sheets and pillows thrown on the floor, and a sealed crate nestled under the bed. It seemed as if whoever had been in the Tower had skipped my room entirely.

"_There doesn't seem to be a record of ANY type of disturbance on the tower security systems and nothing vital is missing from the files_," Cyborg broadcasted from the communicator, "_I haven't had a chance to check everything yet, but it almost looks like someone only broke in... to mess up the Main Room."_

There was a slight pause as some keys clicked in the background of the transmission.

"_I already called Beast Boy and Robin and they're on their way over right now; meanwhile, everybody head back to the Main Room..._"

A deep breath.

"...we gotta get to the bottom of this."


	16. Day One II

_The Day Begins_

—

_stomp..._

_stomp... ... ..._

_stomp... ...__** St****o**__**mp...**_

_**Stomp... Stomp...**_

_**StompStompStompStompSto**_—

Green burst through the sliding door and skid to an abrupt stop at the entrance.

"Raven?"

An eerie stillness layered the room; heavy cloth laid drawn along the frames of the room, dampening everything held between four walls into lifelessness.

"Raven!?"

A grimace and tightly closed eyes hung on the face of the floating figure as her hands rotated slowly across her temples. The fringes of the dark cape rose and fell through the air to the rhythm of her massaging fingers, her breaths were shallow and nearly unnoticeable.

"Hey! You okay?"

"Yes," came the hesitant answer as she remained stoically suspended in the air.

Silence.

Beast Boy shifted his weight to the side and let his eyes wander nervously to the side, as if only then noticing that he was inside of a foreign room. "Oh... cool. I-I was just... eh—just checking. It-It's not like I was worried about... about— **anything** or anything... Just checking."

Silence.

"Right," Raven coldly replied, "that was _**my**_Panic that just exploded into this room and suffocated me."

"... ... Oh, uh...yeah. "

He stood with his hands hanging limply at his side, right foot tapping slowly on the floor, eyes straying far from the floating empath in the center of the room. Seconds ticked away as neither moved.

"Is there something else you need—?"

"—Oh. Uh, umm... no, not really..."

_Swish._

The opening appeared behind him and he slid out the door with a noticeable dip in his shoulders and steps a fraction as loud as they had previously been. Three strides and a threshold later, he smacked into a pair of green eyes.

"Oh, pardon me, Beast Boy," Starfire offered as she held her right arm to her left shoulder and rubbed it gingerly. "I should have observed you earlier, but I was misplaced in thought. I awoke this morning with great discomfort in my upper limb, and I fear that there may be some sort of damage."

"Don't worry 'bout it, Star," he answered and weakly smiled. "I mean, I-I was kinda distracted, too."

"Might I inquire as to the nature of your preoccupation?"

"Yeah... sure," Beast Boy replied, and started down the hallway toward the Main Room as Starfire floated softly beside him. "...See, it kinda started when..."

—

It whipped back like a snake, moving wildly and freely – almost defiantly – against the air, enough to make me want to let go and just be torn out of the seat.

"Parents used to tell me my cousin Vinny lost his head that way." Prying myself from outside the car window, I painfully leaned back to hear the rest of Beast Boy's comment. "…Yeah, they said he was hanging his head out the window of a car, relaxing along, slobbering like a dog or whatever and then **BAM!** All of a sudden a stop, sign took off his head."

"Yeah, sure," Cyborg answered to the back seat against the rushing wind. "You realize everybody's parents say that, right?"

"No _really_, dude!"

Cyborg shook his head, still staring ahead at the road. He slowly gyrated one hand with loud cracks, then the other while continuing the conversation. "Look… did you ever meet this Cousin Vinny?"

I turned back from the passenger seat to see Beast Boy's slow reaction from the back. "Uh… … no… not really… …"

"That doesn't seem weird to you?"

"Well… we _did_ travel a lot…"

"Enough to **never** see him?"

He quickly smiled and leaned forward over the space between the front seats. "…I didn't see him 'cause he probably got his head smacked off before I was born!"

I laughed and – for some reason – felt the urge to stick my head out the window again. Cracking my knuckles and shifting my spine uncomfortably, I leaned out again to the whipping winds.

"Okay, well what about popping your knuckles?"

The car shot past a crosswalk sign and I quickly moved back into the interior of the vehicle yet again.

"What about it?" Cyborg responded.

"Well, they always told me that if you did it, your fingers'd fall off or you'd get arthritix when you're old."

"And you _believed_ them―!?"

"―they said that it happened to Aunt Bertha―!"

"―**Aunt Bertha**? You had an Aunt _Bertha_!?"

"I mean… I never really met her, but―"

"Are you seeing the pattern?"

"We traveled a lot!"

"I think Cyborg is correct." They both turned from the battlefield between them and glanced in my direction as I continued, "Cracking fingers is not the cause of joint problems. Those are caused by genetic factors and old age."

Cyborg grinned for several moments before responding decidedly. "And how'd you find that out?"

"I've witnessed the same argument before and I finally researched it with someone who repeatedly cracked her joints," I replied.

"Told you! Don't doubt my vast collection of useless knowledge!" He announced with a gloating grin. Still smiling, he turned and casually looked over again. "…And what happed to your friend?"

"She died."

Silence.

Neither of them immediately responded for several moments and I finally managed to look over out of the corner of my eye.

Still... awkwardly still.

Once again, the mood is brutally slain by the grand conversationalist.

Khren…

―

"Remind me again why we're on a roof coated with a solid layer of pigeon droppings."

Raven dropped a single hand from her throbbing forehead long enough to stare at the grayish-brown floor beneath her… and quickly brought it back up.

Jumping over the ledge and landing on a clear patch of ground, Robin answered nonchalantly. "Last night, the group of thugs we captured was carrying unusual weapons. Unusually advanced weapons. Unusually advanced weapons that, in the wrong hands, could fuel a private war."

The masked Titan leaped forward across various expanses and finally landed before a raised steel tile. "This location was the only thing we could get out of the leader before he was―" He paused and spoke deliberately. "―_given_ to the police department."

"Then let us waste no more time and proceed to gather that which we require from these villainous tugs." Starfire hovered forward to the steel panel on the floor and pulled back a fist, poised to plow right through.

"Woah, wait!"

Lowering the outstretched hand, Robin stepped up to a farther panel of glass and whipped out a thin piece of metal from his belt. "We _could_ just break in and try to rush them out, but these guys aren't really expecting anything; we need to use that to our advantage."

He forced the metal into the seams and ran it noiselessly along the sides of the panel until he completed the perimeter. With a small jerk and a forceful pull, the panel came up and out into his hands; Robin set it aside and revealed the newly constructed entrance to the warehouse.

"Voilà."

"Wonderful!" came the alien's reply. She lowered her own fist and gently rubbed her shoulder with her other hand. "Then, let us **now** proceed to gather―!"

"―You might want to keep it down, Starfire," Raven added, leaning her head to a side and glancing in her direction. "We need to keep the stealth entry… … stealthy."

"Raven's right. There's no telling what we could find just by keeping quiet nearby."

She grimaced, rubbed her temple, and muttered under breath. "Whatever it takes to make everyone stop _shouting_..."

Slowly, she drifted down through the forced entrance with Starfire floating silently behind her. As they disappeared down the hole, Robin stepped forward, cast a quick glance around the empty rooftop, and crouched over the hole.

_**CLANK.**_

The loud clash echoed through the shadowed rafters and sent a violent shiver through the steel catwalk. Green eyes followed the echoes back down the length to the grimacing face of the masked Titan, crouching warily on the metallic floor.

"Forgive me for asking, Robin, but are you still being of the stealthy?"

He sheepishly looked aside, then stood up and cautiously faced the two floating Titans before him. "Mmm, yeah... Let's... Let's just get going."

He stepped past them slowly and carefully laid each foot down along the way.

Raven met Starfire's eyes from under her hood and managed to slip out a fraction of a smile.

"Stealth," she repeated in a whisper, and floated away.

Soft taps accompanied the team as they made their way high above the warehouse room; the metal boots moved quickly and swiftly as they led the two other Titans above the continuous shuffling of bodies and boxes that carried out below.

"Listen..."

Muffled sounds drifted upwards as fragments of conversations.

"...Nah, nigg..."

"...where was the..."

"…he got kilt."

"…jumped off…"

"Let's get down there and see check out the situation," Robin suggested as he pulled out slack line from his waist and tied it around one of the many gaps in the catwalk floor. Pulling tightly against the floor, he backed up to the edge and slipped down without making a sound; Starfire and Raven floated noiselessly by as they descended upon a stack of materials far below covered by a large, dirty cloth. They slipped off the top and moved soundlessly around the darkened sides of the piles, allowing the once hazy figures to come into view.

"..An' they was all in the streets."

"Nah... really?"

"Hell, yeah! Started shootin' right there, too. I heard a couple of 'em even died."

Two men stood several yards away: a dark one with a shaved head pulling crates off the top of a large stack, and a lighter-skinned one quickly receiving them and handing them off to the one of the various men who wandered in back and forth from the distant entrance.

"What about pigs?"

"Nothin'. They didn' even get there fast 'nuff to see it. Bro said they was in and out in less 'an ten. Picked up the hurt ones and booked it."

"Damn..."

The second man kept a contemplative look on his face as he passed along a crate to the stream of workers. Wiping his hands on his dusty jeans, he paused distinctly for a moment before reaching back for the next crate and continuing the conversation.

"...All that for some V?"

"Hah!" The dark man smiled like a jackal and mockingly stared down his companion. "Yo, you got no idea how hot that stuff is. My cousin in Cenval says i's like gold. Gold that ain't nobody know where ta get..."

The lighter one shrugged and handed off another wooden box as the man above him began to nod his head rhythmically. "...Kinda like the cargo here 'cept we know 'zactly where i's comin' from..."

As the talkative, dark-skinned man rambled on, the stealthy Titans waited patiently a few feet away beside a small wall of crates. They were halfway pressed against the wall and huddled together near an edge, observing the distant scene.

Without turning, Robin motioned to the others and spoke in a low, gravely voice that barely cleared the clamor of nearby footsteps, grunts, and orders being given:

"Let's see if we can't take care of some of the line before moving on to the stationed muscle. We'll radio in Cyborg, Beast Boy and Mika and tell them to take care of the outside and meet us at the entrance." The Boy Wonder cocked his head only slightly as he continued. "We're still undetected, so let's try to keep in mind the idea of stealt**―**"

Movement out of the corner of his eye.

He turned and watched a pair of arms hurl a crate towards the alien behind him.

"Starfire, look above―"

―

"―you?"

I shrugged and immediately winced. Nodding slowly, I pushed my pelvis forward and held my hands at my hips.

"My spine," I answered.

Cyborg nodded understandingly and rolled his wrists slowly.

"I've got it in my joints," he responded.

"I didn't sleep uncomfortably last night, but my spine feels like a roll of broken steel wire," I explained. My arm went up behind my neck as I twisted around and grimaced.

He continued, slowly rotating his foot, "Can't understand why I'm having so much trouble, either. I've never rusted this badly before because I always do a complete aerothermal dry. Must be something goin' around..."

Our collective gaze eventually landed on the green elf lounging lazily against the cement wall beside us.

"I... uh… stubbed my toe on the bed this morning?" Beast Boy offered.

I fought a smile and looked over the dumpster that blocked our presence from any curious parties.

Cyborg leaned back from the corner of the bin and nodded solemnly with a look of great concern. "Lucky for you it didn't **BAM!** come clean off. Or get 'arthritix' or something."

I wasn't fast enough to cover the snort that I reflexively let out.

Both Titans stared at me with silly grins before joining in with their own stifled laughter. Shaking my head, I fought to regain composure. "This is the worst surveillance in the history of mankind. How do you Titans manage to get anything done?"

"Meh, we take it as it comes," Beast Boy. "Give it a little elbow grease. Rock the boat when push comes to shove. Step up when the going gets tough, and put our eggs in one basket when the tough get tougher."

I looked sheepishly away and began wondering if I should ask Starfire for help with English colloquialisms when a growing number of shouts from beyond our temporary cover interrupted my thoughts.

"...ey!"

"Hey!..."

"―tans inside!"

We moved out from our position next to one of the many identical buildings and watched a torrent of angry men dash through the open entrance of the building across from us. The arsenal of clubs, wooden slats, and scraps of metal gave me the impression that surveillance was over.

"Yeah, we should probably be heading in that direction, too..."

—

The loss of balance was really the least of his worries; at the moment, diving head first into a heap of wooden crates actually presented a greater problem. But the ensuing collision ended the matter completely.

"I don't think you want to try this."

A steel-toed boot kicked out the legs of a nearby thug; Robin caught him by the collar and flung away into a crowd of gathering men.

"Trust us," he continued, now facing the horde of circling men, "you'll like your noses better unbroken."

Steady advances forward.

He shook his head and grimaced. "And then they go and complain about excessive force..."

Lunge.

The circle around the masked teen surged forward and met with the broadside of a sheet of steel.

"Thanks, Raven," he said quickly as he darted through a small part in the temporarily stunned mob. "Watch the back, Star. And..." he landed and turned to face the all directions. "...does anybody know where everybody _**else**_ is!?"

"Sorry we're late," Cyborg offered as we all burst through the entrance simultaneously, "I was teaching Beast Boy how to tell a joke... and took longer than we thought..."

We reached the nearest edge of the mindless thuggery and immediately went to work.

"Dude, you're _so_ gonna get it for that one."

Beast Boy charged full-speed into the unprepared mess as they scrambled to move out of the way of the hulking mass of an angry green rhinoceros. The wide-ranged rush opened up a clear path for me to follow through, ready and poised to smack around a mass of dirty elementary school rejects.

Off to the side, Starfire picked up criminals with laughable ease by their dusty coat collars and gently hurled them to the side onto a growing pile of stupefied crooks; her attention, however, rested mostly on slowly flexing the other hand that wasn't tossing out the trash.

It was hilarious, and kinda pathetic to see for the hairy hoodlums being thrown arou—**THWOCK.**

"Gah!" I bent forward and rolled away from the backside strike. Behind me, some crazy pizduk laughed stupidly and gripped the plank of wood in his hands tightly; it was obvious that he was very pleased with himself for landing a blow on a little girl that was clearly distracted and turned around.

Ignoring the pain in my back, I gripped the escrima sticks tightly in my hands and sprung back to the attacker.

"Attacking me when I'm _turned around_?!"

The first hit connected in the midsection, nestled in the stomach beneath the last right rib, which was good because it meant that he didn't expect the second one to the outside of his right knee. Like any normal human being, his immediate reaction was to simultaneously hold his bruised rib and tenderly reach down for his twisted kneecap. Like any normal girl who had been struck across her aching back and happened to own a pair of attack sticks, I brought both of them sharply in an upwards arc across his exposed chin.

Smack _**me**_ in the back...

A shadow stretched out across me and I got the impression that somebody wanted to follow their friend's example. Spinning around quickly, I dropped to a knee and easily led away the lead pipe that came down; my second stick secured a solid hit behind the thug's legs and he went down faster than a khokhol whore.

After that, it was like sweeping dead leaves.

From above, Raven contained Starfire's castoffs beneath metal plates and random garbage from the surrounding area. Their muffled struggles were weak and, ultimately, ineffectual. Far away, Beast Boy sauntered through clusters of remaining fodder and managed to shift between attacks to continue his argument with Cyborg, who picked off remaining enemies around him. Robin tied down criminals left and right with simple plastic ties and almost seemed like he was smiling.

And suddenly, there was no one else left standing.

"Well, that was... pleasant," Starfire proposed. "I believe the stealthy may have worked."

The Titans gravitated towards the fallen enemies and the nearby crates of supplies, spreading out around the room; with the bodies finally down, the dingy, dusty warehouse room had appeared back into clear view. Expansive walls covered with scrawled graffiti came into focus, and I noticed the minuscule, muddied windows high above that provided next to no light through their smeared surface and the sizable door we had used to enter that provided most of the illumination for the cavernous room.

"We're glad you enjoyed it."

Squads of armored policemen swarmed through the entrance and slowly moved drawn weapons over the fallen masses of hired muscle; through the small stream, a figure emerged, walking casually in a thin brown jacket among the officers.

"And it certainly seemed like you did."

He glanced around, carefully like it was a scene of some kind of pleasant park. His line of sight was almost visible as it spotlighted small groups of thugs and made its way back to the Titans along with own self.

"We'll take it from here," he added with an uninterested wave of the hand.

A raised eyebrow from Robin echoed the general sentiment of the team.

"Yeah, that's what... usually happens," Robin answered slowly.

A sudden rush of the armored enforcers toward the subdued hoods forced us to all back away. I stepped to the left toward Starfire and Beast Boy and watched as Robin closed distance ahead toward the pretentious officer.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but... who exactly are you?"

He stopped and turned in a single movement, and held a hand out to the side, as if sweeping away the question.

"These suspects are under our jurisdiction and I'd appreciate it if they were not interfered with in any way," he answered. "Oh, and I'll have to ask that any evidence originating from and involved with the scene of the crime stay as such." His eyes narrowed on seemingly each of the Titans and me simultaneously. "We wouldn't want anyone to _accidentally_ tamper with key information."

From the look on each of the Titan's faces, I could tell they were as confused as I was. Nice to be on the same page for once...

"...Officer—"

"Alright, what the hell are you talking about?" Cyborg demanded almost visibly pushing aside formalities and diving right to the point. "Who are you?"

"I'm the person in charge here."

"Where's Commissioner Hall?"

"He's a little busy at the time."

Everybody stood motionlessly as the arrests continued around us; he wordlessly turned his back and made the first steps of a dramatic exit.

"You're welcome…"

"What?" A glare of renewed indignation adorned the smirk of his face. "What was that?"

"You're welcome for the help in catching the criminals," Raven continued, matching his smirk with her own stoic coldness.

"Listen, Gothbox," he answered behind clenched teeth, "I'm here as a temporary replacement for our mutually acquainted Commissioner Hall; it seems brass didn't take too kindly to his friendliness toward masked vigilantes, and I happen to agree with them. So before you go patting yourself on the back for a job well done, I'd just be grateful to even walk out of this building out of arrest—"

"We're helping the city! We're helping you!"

"Now help yourself out of my crime scene." He paused briefly and continued. "And while we're on the subject, why don't you—"

"Move out!"

All that was left of Robin was the brief flutter of a black and yellow cape and we found ourselves rushing after him as he closed in on the nearest exit. Sprinting madly, I barely caught up to Starfire just as she glided next to the dashing Titan.

"Robin, why did we allow him to remain victorious in the argument? Did we not—"

"Don't worry, Star," Robin interrupted with an obvious smirk, "we didn't let anybody win anything. I thought the best way to argue back would be to prove him wrong."

We arrived at the cluster of vehicles just as I felt my communicator begin vibrating in my pants. Robin looked into his own screen and held it up for everyone to see. "Let's take a drive…"

—

"Does it seem like the sky is purple to you?"

Cautiously leaning out the window – after looking ahead for stray street signs – I squinted upward.

"I think it is closer to red."

"What?"

"I don't know what either of you two are talking about, it's obviously blue. Blue as the ocean. Blue as the… well… the sky!"

"Dude," Beast Boy chimed in, appearing between the two front seats like some sort of weasel, "I think your eye sensors are broken. Cause that sky is purple like a grape. A big juicy grape… that stretches ever the city or something."

"Whatever man, I **know** what I see."

For some inexplicable reason, my eyes stayed glued to the rooftops as they passed monotonously by, each a carbon copy of the last, right down to the pseudo-elegance in the placement of the short, ugly chimneys. Then there was a change. By no means obvious or even really important – the buildings simply became little by little taller, less windowed, and... dirtier. A quick glance at a glaring crack in the sidewalk and the road – which had ceased to roll like marble – revealed a similar aesthetic, an appearance that was slowly growing familiar.

Until I saw it.

The alleyways between buildings that had served as my highway to the area.

The awkward, jutting metal fixtures all over the rooftops that was a magic carpet in my journey.

The place where I got stabbed, nestled between the foreclosed bank and the pawn shop.

We had moved into a darker part of town, a section of the city I hadn't seen since my visit to the Tower.

And it felt... comfortable.

_BSSSSSSSSSSHHH._

"_Cyborg, Beast Boy, Mika._" The video panel on the dashboard of the T-Car buzzed to life as Robin appeared on-screen behind his motorcycle helmet. "_Forget about... whatever his name was. We have access to all of their criminal records, current cases, and news bulletins. And there is no way that we're standing down when we can help._" He looked back up at the road and leaned in as he quickly turned the handle bar of the bike; chuckling softly, he turned back to the screen and added, "_Actually, it would be in _their_ best interest to cooperate with _us_, seeing how we can get into places they can't, and I'm sure they know that. But those things will have to take care of themselves. As for now..._"

As we snaked around an eighteen-wheeler, he quickly outlined the look of our destination, including the status of emergency. Blowing past a road block, the T-Car darted down the exit ramp off the highway and screeched to a halt before the scene we just had described to us.

A small herd of cars were sprawled around the junction of the ramp and the service road that joined with it several meters downward; interestingly, only one of them was actually on four wheels, right side up. The rest were missing wheels, slanted downward, and – in the case nearest to us – completely upside down. Spontaneous gunfire rained from across the street, emanating from behind a similar – though apparently in much better shape – labyrinth of vehicles.

"_Remember that they haven't returned fire and might be willing to surrender if they see you try to help them._"

Several meters ahead, the various figures huddled behind the assortment of cars and angrily looked around the sides and under the car to the other side. From behind the nearest car, a hand abruptly pointed in our direction and the shielded victim shouted something loudly. Something distinctly angry.

"Uh, Robin... Something tells me there not gonna be accepting any help from us."

Air whizzed beside the windows of the car as shots rang out and we found ourselves the target of several gun barrels. Beast Boy swallowed loudly and laughed nervously.

"Definitely not..."

Sparks shot out from the hood of the T-Car; I crouched down in my seat, pushing against Cyborg as he exited through the driver's door that faced away from the unholy shootout. Rolling out, I landed roughly on the ground and listened to the lead hailstorm behind me.

"Things always have to go the hardest way possible…" Cyborg muttered to no one in particular. Leaning to the side, he glanced out at the barrage of bullets and quickly moved back. "Okay, we gotta move out 'cause they're not going to stop any time soon and my baby can only take so much before the frame starts giving out."

Suddenly, the hailstorm drifted over the roof, up the exit ramp, and toward the speeding R- Cycle that headed in our direction. Robin swerved his way down, leaning into a controlled slide as sparks jumped across the pavement. It screeched to a crash into the front side of the T-Car, and immediately, Robin pushed it against the unexposed side, relatively unscathed and now clear of all gunfire.

"Great! The R-Cycle is safe," Cyborg droned. "No need to worry now."

"I vote for New Plan!" Beast Boy shouted over the roar of bullets. "The one that doesn't have us sitting here and getting shot!"

"Alright, New Plan is take out anyone with a gun," Robin shouted, "or better yet, anyone with a tattoo. Cyborg and Raven, take care of the far group from here then join us."

"Already ahead of you." The sonic cannon was stiffly poised upward, high above the far mass; muted whirring grew louder from the cybernetic weapon as its usual glow intensified and heat radiated disturbingly near my head. A soft click resounded as something reached its limit and the beam shot over the cars, across the battlegrounds, and into a large billboard.

"Titans, go!"

Ahead of the charge, a fire hydrant engulfed in darkness blew out of the ground and launched a torrent of water into the gaping mouths of a stunned group of gang members, leaving a mess of flailing tan limbs. Raven floated above and molded the distraction before us.

Across the street, I spied starbolts, a bo staff, and a green bear knocking around the gang members that weren't taken down by the falling billboard like a tidal wave.

Stumbling dazedly, several members began clawing wildly at the ground, fumbling for the weapons they had dropped in the spout. Shouts of warning rang out naming our direction of approach as every single imaginable one except the actual one. Which idiot thought we were attacking from underground?

I reached out and connected an escrima stick with a distracted gang member before he even had an opportunity to lay a finger on the useless piece of metal with which he had hoped to defend himself.

One strike to the temple, one to the ribs, and a two-handed sweep later, he was out cold on the floor, wet, dazed and groaning.

Lunge.

Strike.

Quick blows to the hands and sides.

It was all a matter of overwhelming them before they could gain their bearing or run away or – worse – organize. But it was easy enough to keep them off-balanced; they were trained to respect brute power and as unarmed as all of them suddenly found themselves, they were clearly facing superior firepower.

I could see Beast Boy and Robin making quick work of the confused group on the other side, throwing blows left and right, and tearing their way past furiously disoriented gang members as Starfire subdued the unruly ones without even having to land.

Moving from one thug to the next with no hesitation, I knocked them down in rapid succession like trees as Cyborg collected them with quickly fired nets. My stick struck an incoming fist away, and I responded to the attack with a polite knee to foolish thug's groin.

Smiling to myself, I turned away to face the last of the unruly criminals when something suddenly felt very wrong.

It was as if the world slowed down. Not in the figurative sense… in a much more real way.

The world literally slowed down.

And I saw the young thug, probably not even out of high school, on his hand and knees a couple meters away.

With a solid black handgun.

Hand wrapped around the handle.

Trigger already squeezed.

Gun recoiling from the kick.

I could almost see the small piece of metal shoot through the air angrily, heading straight for the distracted floating empath.

"RAVEN!"

Her head rocked back from the impact of the bullet, knees buckling and bending slightly, but her body held in the air for several empty moments.

All at once, her knees dropped to the ground and she collapsed onto the floor.

Within a single second, a small red pool grew around her head.

But Raven's body remained motionless.

Dead.

—

_shot..._

—

_head..._

—

_ blood..._

—

_ head... _

—

_where?..._

—

_..._

—

_shot..._

—

_run..._

—

_ where?..._

—

_hurry..._

—

_ where?..._

—

_head..._

—

_..._

—

_shot._


	17. Day One III

_The Day Begins_

—

_stomp..._

_stomp... ... ..._

_stomp... ...__** St**_**o**_**mp...**_

_**Stomp... Stomp...**_

_**StompStompS**__**t**__**ompStompSto**_—

Green burst through the sliding door and skid to an abrupt stop at the entrance.

"Raven?"

An eerie stillness layered the room; heavy cloth laid drawn along the frames of the room, dampening everything held between four walls into lifelessness.

"Raven!?"

Silence replied eagerly, flooding the audible void as the pupils nestled in green irises gradually dilated to pull at the little light in the room.

"Hello? You okay?"

Silence.

He tentatively took a step forward and – hearing no reaction – followed with a second step, and a third. Stepping carefully, he let his eyes wander nervously to the sides, noticing a small group of trinkets on the dresser, a collection of masks on the far wall, and a mound of clothes in a bag beside the closet.

"Raven?"

Silence.

"Geez," he mumbled out loud, "it's suffocating in here..."

"Raven!" Hands hanging limply at his side, right foot tapping slowly on the floor, eyes all over the layout of the room, the seconds ticked away as he stood awkwardly.

He finally jerked back.

_Swish._

The opening appeared behind him and, noiselessly, he slid out the door with a quickened pace. Raising his hands to his mouth, he barely began calling out the same name before he smacked into a pair of green eyes.

"Oh, pardon me, Beast Boy," Starfire offered as she held her right arm to her left shoulder and rubbed it gingerly. "I should have observed you earlier, but I was misplaced in thought. I awoke this morning—"

"Don't worry about it, Star," he answered dismissively. "I was kinda distracted, too."

"Might I inquire as to the nature of your preoccupation?"

"Yup. Have you seen Raven?"

"No, I cannot say that I have. Perhaps Robin knows her location?"

"Yeah... sure," Beast Boy replied, and started jogging down the hallway toward the Main Room as Starfire floated quickly beside him. "...See, it kinda started when..."

—

…_**and directly over the head of…**_

…_**stopped in his tracks and bolted to the right…**_

…_**Within a single second, a large mountain of rubble stood over where…**_

…_**And the rubble remained motionless…**_

—

"Where's Raven?"

The usual pleasantries apparently forgone, Beast Boy stood beside the chair at the computer terminal freshly burst in through the sliding door. From my crouched position on the floor, I watched Robin's chair spin slowly to face Beast Boy. Despite the brightness of the morning, the lack of windows in the Computer Room allowed the blue glow of the giant monitor to highlight the confusion on Robin's face.

"What are you talking about, Beast Boy?" He paused as if actually waiting for an answer. "She's away."

They stared back at each other for several long moments before continuing.

"She went back to Azarath for a while," Robin elaborated, "to deal with some personal conflicts. Remember, she told us yesterday after dinner?"

I twisted my torso and winced silently as pain shot up my back.

"Oh, right. I don't know why," Beast Boy answered, "why I thought... why I didn't remember... that. Kinda funny, I guess."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't worry about it too much." Periodic blinks of the screen suddenly brought Robin's attention back to the computer. Bending forward, I popped, jolting Beast Boy out of his spot and sending him stumbling backwards. I half-smiled in apology and weakly shrugged.

"I'm sure she'll be back soon. In the meantime..." He stood from the chair and moved to the door. "...We got a little business to take care of."

—

It whipped back like a snake, moving wildly and freely

_**the **__**back **_**seat**** against**_** the rushing wind. "You real**__**ize everybody's**__** parents**_

_**then **_**BAM!**_** All of a **_

_**su**_**dde**_**n**_

**b**_**efore**__** I was born!"**_

_**shifting my spine uncomfortably, **_

_**I**_

"_**And**_** you **_**belie**__**ved them―!?" "―the**_**y sai**_**d that**__** it hap**__**pened to**_

_**the battle**_**field**** betwe**_**en t**_**h**_**em **_

_**and glanced in my di**_**rection as **

**I **

**co**_**nt**_**inued**

**the cause** _**of problems. **_**ca**_**use**__**d by **_

_**gen**_**eti**_**c fa**_**c**_**t**__**or**__**s and old age grinned for several m**_**o**_**m**_**en**_**ts before res**_**po**_**nding **_

_**decidedly. **_

"_**And how'd you find that out?" "I've witnessed witnessed the same **_

_**the same **_

_**the same the same the same **__**BEFORE**__** and finally someone **_**c****r****a**_**c**_**ke****d**_**.**_

_**To**_**ld**_** y**__**o**__**u!**_

**do**_**ubt **__**usele**__**ss sm**_**i**_**li**_**n**_**g,**_

_**tu**__**rned **_

_**yo**_**u**_**r **__**f**__**r**__i_**e**_n_**d**?"

"She died."

Silence.

We all sat there, awkwardly unmoving.

Once again, the conversation is brutally murdered by the grand conversati—

"Did anybody feel that?" Beast Boy asked quickly.

"What?"

"That… that… _thing_ that just happened."

I looked around. "What are you referring to?"

"That _thing_!"

"I did not see anyth—"

"The _THING_!"

Cyborg answered this time. "Beast Boy, I don't know what you're trying to—"

"How did nobody _feel_ that!?"

"Calm down, String Bean. "

"**_I think your eye sensors are broken. Cause that sky is purple like a grape. A big juicy grape… that stretches ev_e_r the city or something."_**

"What… the… _hell?_"

If Cyborg hadn't been driving, he probably would have been staring at Beast Boy the same way I was: eyes wide, breathe held, mouth cracked slightly open.

"Beast Boy, are you feelin' okay?"

"Yeah! I'm fine!"

Cyborg shook his head, eyes still glued to the road. "First the whole Cousin Vinny business. Now, these crazy rants about feelings—"

"Wait!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "I didn't say anything about Cousin Vinny!"

"Umm… yeah, you did, man. You _just_ told us all about how he got his head whacked off by a stop sign – apparently lined with razor blades or something – and how your parents told you not to stick your head out the window and some garbage."

I giggled to myself quietly. 'Whacked.' What a funny word…

"Wha…? Oh… yeah, I guess I… did just say that…"

"Where's your head, man?" he asked, a tone of actual seriousness creep around the fringes. "Just be sure to get un-distracted before we go in."

"Yeah. Okay," Beast Boy answered. 'I'll… I'll do that.'

―

**a**_** solid layer of pigeon **_

_**drop**_**p**_**ings."**_

_**dropped a **_**single**_** hand**_

**throbb**_**ing forehead long **_

_**gra**_**yi**_**sh-brown **_**f**_**lo**__**or beneath… lan**_**di**_**ng on a **__**clear p**_**at****ch o**_**f gro**_**u**_**nd,**_

_**coul**__**d fuel **_**a pr**_**ivate war."**_

**w**_**as the only thing we could get out of **_

_**the**_

**n**_**o more time and proceed to gather that which we require from **_

"_**W**_**o**_**a**__**h**__**,**_

_**ou**__**tstr**_**e**_**tch**_**e**_**d hand, Ro**_**bin**_** ste**_**p**_**ped **__**u**__**p t**__**o**__** a **_**f****a**_**rth**__**er pan**__**e**__**l **_

**of**

**fo****r**_**ce**__**d the m**_**et**_**al into **_**t**_**he s**_**e**_**a**_**m**_**s **_**a**_**n**__**d r**_**a**_**n it n**_**o**_**i**__**se**_**l**_**es**_

"_**Voi**_**l**_**à."**_

_**Rav**_**en**_** added, le**__**anin**_**g he**_**r he**__**ad to a sid**_**e an**_**d glanc**_**i**_**ng in he**__**r dir**__**ectio**__**n. "W**_**e**

_**everyone stop shouting..."**_

**CL_AN_**K.

echoed through the shadowed rafters and sent a violent shiver through the steel catwalk. Green eyes followed the echoes back down the length to the grimacing face of the masked Titan, crouching warily on the metallic floor.

"Forgive me for asking, Robin, but are you still being of the stealthy?"

He sheepishly looked aside, then stood up, and cautiously faced the single floating Titan before him. "Mmm, yeah... Let's... Let's just get going."

Carefully making their way around, the two Titans moved high above the warehouse room; metal boots swiftly leading the way to the action below.

"_**Listen..**_

_**fra**__**gm**_**en**_**ts o**_**f**

"_**...**_**N**_**ah, **_**ni****g**_**gwher**__**e wa**__**s h**__**e got kilt j**_**um**_**pedoff**_

_**down t**_**h**_**er**_**e**_** a**_**n**_**d see ch**_**e**_**c**__**k **__**o**_**u**_**t **__**t**__**he sit**__ua__**t**__i_**o**n_**,**_" Robin suggested as he pulled out slack line from his waist and tied it around one of the many gaps in the catwalk floor. Pulling tightly against the floor, he backed up to the edge and

_**sl**_**ipp**_**ed **__**dow**__**n **_**wi**_**t**__**h**__**out **_

**s**_**lip**_**pe**_**d of**_**f**_** the t**_**o**_**p **__**a**_**n**_**d m**_**o**_**ved **_

_**sou**__**nd**__**l**_**es**_**sly **_

"_**..An' **_**t**_**hey w**_**a**_**s **_

_**al**_**l**_** i**__**n **_

"_**N**_**ah**_**..**_

_**?**_**"**

_**shoo**_**t****i**_**n' ri**_**g**_**ht th**_**e**_**re, t**_**o**_**o. I h**_**ea**_**r**__**d a **_

**d**_**."**_

_**se**_**vera**_**l **__**yar**__**ds a**_**w**_**a**__**y: **__**a **__**dar**__**k**_

**r**_**e**_**c**_**eivi**__**n**__**g them and ha**__**nd**__**ing t**_**he**_**m off to**_** t**_**he one of the va**__**rio**_**u**_**s m**_**e**_**n**__**w**_**h**_**o wan**__**d**__**er**__**ed in b**_**a**_**ck a**_**n**_**d fo**_**r**_**th from the di**_**sta**_**nt **_

_**e**_**ntra**_**nce.**_

"_**What a**__**b**_**o**_**u**__**t**_

"**N****o****t**_**hi**__**n'. **_

_**f**_**a**_**st '**_**nu**_**ff**__**to s**__**ee**_**i**_**t. **_

**a****m**_**n**__**..**_**."**

The second man kept a contemplative look on his face as he passed along a crate to the stream of workers. Wiping his hands on his dusty jeans, he paused distinctly for a moment before reaching back for the next crate and continuing the conversation.

"_**...All that**_

"**Ha**_**h!"**_

_**sm**_**i**_**led**__** li**__**ke **_**a**

_**o**__**n**__**e shr**_**u**_**gg**__**ed a**__**nd h**_**an**_**ded o**_**f**_**f an**_**o**_**th**_**e**_**r w**_**o**_**o**__**d**_

_**r**_**a**_**m**__**bl**_**e**_**d**_

_**on**_**,**

**t**_**wo **_**st**_**e**__**alt**__**hy **_**Ti**_**ta**__**n**__**s **_

_**the wall a**_**nd**_** hud**__**dl**__**ed t**__**o**__**gether **_

_**ne**_**a**_**r an edg**__**e**__**, o**_**b**_**serving **_

_**in a low, g**__**ravely voice th**_**a**_**t barely cle**_**a**_**red the cla**_**mor**_** of nearb**__**y **_

_**footsteps, **_

_**grunts, **_

"**Le**_**t's see**__** i**__**f we can't take ca**__**r**__**e of some of th**__**e**_

_**radio in Cy**_**b**_**org, B**_**e**_**ast Bo**__**y**_** an**_**d Mik**__**a a**__**nd still**_** u**_**n**_**de**_**tected, so**__** let's tr**__**y to **_

_**k**_**e**_**ep**_

_**M**_**o**_**ve**__**me**__**n**_**t**_** o**_**u**_**t **__**o**_f_ t__**h**__e __**c**__o_**r**_n_er_ o_f his eye.

"Starfire, look above―"

―

"―you?"

I shrugged and immediately winced. Nodding slowly, I pushed my pelvis forward and held my hands at my hips.

"My spine," I answered.

Cyborg nodded understandingly and rolled his wrists slowly. "I've got it in my joints," he responded.

"_You_ didn't sleep uncomfortably last night, but your spine feels like a roll of broken steel wire," Beast Boy said in my direction with an accusatory finger before I could even say anything.

I just nodded dumbly. "Yes… that's probably the best way to describe it."

He turned to Cyborg and continued, "And you can't understand why you're having so much trouble, either. You've never rusted this badly before because you always do a complete air-warmal dry."

Our collective gaze eventually landed on the green elf crouched against the cement wall beside us.

"I... uh… woke up feeling really weird this morning," Beast Boy explained.

Cyborg leaned back from the corner of the bin and nodded solemnly with a look of great concern. "Lucky for you didn't hit yourself because it might have―

"―**BAM!** come clean off?" Beast Boy asked tentatively, as if afraid of being right. "Or gotten 'arthritix' or something?"

"Yeah, that was exactly what I... was gonna... say."

Both of us continued staring at Beast Boy with questioning looks before speaking again.

"Seriously, man, are you feeling alright?" Cyborg asked. "You've been pretty weird today. I mean... even for you, you've been a total nutjob. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah..."

"Are you sick? Do you have think you might have something?" Cyborg whipped out a small penlight and flashed it into Beast Boy's green eyes. "You had any contact with angry bovines? Sick birds? Mangy felines?"

"Um... no?"

"Have any trouble breathing? Coughing? Walking? Motor abilities in general?"

"What? Does 'motor' mean like riding a moped?"

"Does your vision ever go blurry? Do you find your self seeing double? Do you forget where you are sometimes?"

Cyborg put down the pen and leaned into Beast Boy. "Does it hurt when you pee?"

"_What_!?"

He pulled back all of sudden and kept a stern look. "You been doin' drugs, boy? What 'chu been trying? Coke? Crack? Smack? Meth, Tubbies, Actiq? LSD, GHB, X? Codeine, Morphine, Nicotine? Yellow jackets, Ritalin, OxyContin? Adderall, Speedball, Hardball, Softball, T-Ball, Blue ball?"

"Son of a whore, Cy! How do you even _know_ all of those?"

He looked off forlornly and closed his eyes dramatically. "There are some things you can never forget from life on the streets..."

It was our turn to stare at him.

"You got 'em from that Discovery Channel special last week, didn't you?"

"Hell yeah! That thing was amazing! Did you know you can choke on your own vomit!?"

I wasn't fast enough to cover the snort that I reflexively let out. Both Titans stared at me with silly grins before joining in with their own stifled laughter.

Shaking my head, I fought to regain composure. "This is the worst surveillance in the history of mankind. How do you Titans manage to get anything done?"

"Meh, we take it as it comes," Beast Boy. "Give it a little elbow grease. Rock the boat when push comes to shove. Step up when the going gets tough, and put our eggs in one basket when the tough get tougher."

s_h_**e**_**e**__**pis**__**hl**__**y away and **_

_**be**_**g**_**a**_**n**

_**f**__**o**__**r he**_**l**_**p with **_

_**i**__**nte**__**rrupt**_**e**_**d my **_

_**thoughts.**_

**.ey**_**!" "He ―tans **__**insid**_

_**from our posit**__**ion nex**__**t**_

_**to **_

**to**_**r**__**rent of angry m**_**e**_**n **__**dash through **_

_**us. **__**T**_**h**_**e a**__**rse**_**n**_**al of **_**cl**_**ubs,**__** wood**__**e**__**n sl**_**a**_**ts, and**_

_**w**_**a**_**s o**_**v**_**e**__r._

"Yeah, we should probably be heading in that direction, too..."

"_I_ was about gonna say that..."

—

_**l**_**o**_**ss of balance**_

_**of w**_**oo**_**den**__** cr**__**ates actu**_**all**_**y **_

_**presented **_

_**you w**__**a**__**nt t**_**o t**_**ry this."**_

A steel-toed boot kicked out the legs of a nearby thug;

_**con**__**ti**__**nued, now **_**f**_**a**__**ci**__**ng unb**__**ro**__**ken."**_

_**a**_**d**_**v**__**ance**__**s**_**f**_**orward.**_

_**an**__**d grim**_**a**_**ce**__**d. "An**__**d th**_**e**_**n they go a**_**n**_**d complai**_**n**

**L**_**u**__**n**__**ge.**_

_**q**_**u**_**ickly as he rol**_**l**_**ed **__**t**__**hr**_**o**_**u**_**gh **

_**mob**__**.**__** "Watc**_**h**_** the ba**_**c**_**k, St**_**a**_**r. **_

**A**_**nd..." he lan**_**d**_**ed and tu**_**r**_**ned **_

_**to fac**_**e**_** the all directions. "...does anybody know **_

_**where ev**_**e**_**rybody **__**else**_

_**is!**_**?**_**"**_

_**all burst **_**th**_**rough **_

_**t**_**h**_**e**_

We reached the nearest edge of the mindless thuggery and immediately went to work.

**so**

_**gon**_**na**_** get i**__**t f**__**or **_**u**_**nprep**_**a**_**red m**_**es**_**s a**_**s**

_**th**__**e h**__**u**_**lk**_**ing mass **_

_**o**_**f**

_**an**_

_**a**_**n**_**gry**_

**g**_**re**__**en**_

_**u**_**p c**_**rimi**__**nal**__**s with laug**_**ha**_**ble eas**_**e b**_**y th**_**ei**_**r**_

_**an**__**d gentl**_**y**_** hurl**_**e**_**d them**_

_**t**__o_

THWOCK.

"Gah!" I bent forward and rolled away from the backside strike.

Turning to face my attacker, I found myself staring down a group of charging thugs with a very clear bone to pick.

_Where is Raven?_

For reasons unclear to me, I suddenly felt completely overwhelmed, as if I wasn't supposed to fight so many people at once.

"Attacking me when I'm _turned around_?!"

I ignored the pain in my back and I gripped the escrima sticks tightly in my hands. Feigning forward, I ducked underneath the nearest weapon swinging my way and struck flesh.

T_he_ _**f**__i__**r**_s**t**_** hit connected in **_

_**th**__**e**_

**r**_**ight rib, **_**w**_**hich **_

_**rig**_**h**_**t knee. Like any **_

_**no**__**rm**__**al **_**hu**_**man bei**_**n**_**g, **_

**b**_**een st**__**r**__**uck across her ach**__**ing b**__**ack **_

_**both of t**__**he**__**m sharply**_

_**in **_

_**up**__**w**__**a**_**rd**_**s arc ac**_**ro**_**ss his **_

_**e**_**xp**_**osed **_

_**chin.**_

_**drop**__**pe**__**d to **_**a**_** kn**_**e**_**e **_

_**t**_**ha**_**n a k**_**ho**_**khol whore.**_

_**ca**_**st**_**offs **_

_**a**__**n**__**d**_

_**rand**_**o**_**m**_

_**g**_**a**_**r**__**b**__**age **_

_**from **_

_**a**_**re**_**a. Their **__**m**__**uf**_**fl**_**e**_**d st**_**ruggles **_

_**u**__**lt**__**i**_**m**_**ately, **_

_**in**_**e**_**ffe**__**c**__**t**__**u**__**al. **_

_**ma**__**n**__**aged to s**_**h**_**ift be**_**t**_**ween att**_**a**_**cks **_

_**t**__**ied do**__**wn crim**_**in**_**als le**_**f**_**t a**_**n**_**d **_

**r**_**ig**__ht_

After a seemingly endless battle, there was abruptly no more thug fodder left standing.

"Well, that was... tiresome," Starfire proposed. "I believe―"

"Seriously, guys, did _nobody_ else feel that?"

"Not this again…"

"What's Beast Boy talking about?"

"Nobody? Star? Mika? Robin!?"

"He's going crazy, Robin. He keeps asking if anybody―"

"Seriously! It's like reality just hiccuped or… farted or something."

"Say _what!?_"

_**gr**_**a**_**vita**_**te**_**d towa**_**rd**_**s th**__**e**__** f**_**al**_**len**_

_**around th**_**e r**_**oo**__**m; w**__**ith the bo**_**d**_**ies **_

**th**_**e dingy, dusty **_**wa**_**rehouse r**__**oom **__**h**__**ad**__** appeared **_

_**b**__**ac**__**k**_

**i**_**n**_**t**_**o **_

_**cl**__**ear **_

**v**_**ie**__**w**__**. **_

_**c**_**ov**_**ered wit**_**h**_** scra**_**w**_**led gra**_**f**_**fiti ca**__**me **__**i**__**n**__**to focus, an**__**d **__**I**__** no**__**ticed the **_

_**m**__**in**__**u**_**scu**_**le, **_

_**n**_**ex**_**t to **_**n**_**o li**_**g**_**ht t**_**hro****u**_**gh thei**__**r sm**__ea__**re**__**d **__**sur**_**fa****ce a**_**nd the**_

"_**We**_**'r**_**e g**__**la**__**d you sw**_**ar**_**med through the **_

_**fal**_**le**_**n ma**_**ss**_**es of hi**__**re**__**d muscle; **_

_**em**__**er**__**ged,**_

_**li**__**k**__**e you di**__**d**__**."**_

_**li**__**ke **__**it**__** w**__**as a **_**sc**_**ene of some **__**ki**__**nd of pleasan**_**t p**_**ark. His li**__**n**__**e of sight was a**_**lm**_**ost visi**__**b**__**le as it spot**__**ligh**__**ted small **_

_**gro**__**u**__**ps**_

_**ba**_**c**_**k to the Ti**__**ta**__**n**__**s al**_**o**_**ng with o**_**w**_**n self.**_

_**fro**__**m here," he a**_**d**_**ded **_

_**eyeb**_**ro**_**w**__** fro**__**m Robin echoed**_

_**enfor**__**cers towa**__**rd the subd**_**u**_**ed hoo**__**ds fo**__**rced **_

_**u**_**s**

**t**_**o**_

_**bac**_**k a**_**w**_**a**_**y. I s**__**tep**__**ped off to**_

"_**I d**_**on**_**'t m**_**e**_**an to **_

_**you?"**_

_**swee**_**pi**_**ng aw**__**ay t**__**he**__** qu**__**esti**_**on**_**. **__**suspe**_**ct**_**s our juris**__**di**_**cti**_**on**_

_**not in**__**t**_**e**_**r**__**fered with i**__**n **__**an**_**y**_** way," h**__**e **_

_**and I'll h**_**a****v**_**e **__**to**__** a**_**s**_**k that **_

_**a**_**n**_**y **_

_**ev**__**i**__**den**_**c**_**e **_

_**origin**_**at**_**ing from and in**_**vo**_**lved with **_

_**as su**_**c**_**h." His eyes nar**_**ro**_**wed on **_

_**Ti**_**ta**_**n**__**s **__**and**__**would**_**n**_**'t want a**_**n**_**yone to **_**acc**_**identally**__** ta**__**mper**_

_**key info**_**rm**_**ation." **__**F**__**rom **_

_**fa**_**ce**_**s, I co**__**ul**__**d**__** tel**__**l they w**_**er**_**e as co**_**nf**_**used a**__**s I**_

_**was. **_

_**on th**_**e **_**s**__**ame**__** page **_

**f**_**or **_

_**o**_**n**_**c**__**e**__**...**_

"_**...Of**_**f**_**ic**_**e**_**r—"**_

_**the h**_**ell**_** a**_**r**_**e you tal**_**k**_**ing about?" Cy**_**bo**_**rg **_

_**as**_**i**_**de f**__**or**__**m**__**a**__**lities and di**_**vi**_**ng the p**_**e**_**r**_**s**_**on in charge**__** here."**_

_**li**_**tt**_**le **__**b**__**u**__**sy**__** at the ti**_**m**_**e."**_

_**sto**_**o**_**d **__**mo**__**ti**_**o**_**nle**_**s**_**sly as**_

_**ar**_**o**_**und us;**_

_**tur**_**ne**_**d his back a**_**n**_**d mad**_**e**_** the **_**fi**_**rst **_

_**a **_

_**dram**_**at**_**ic exit.**_

_**wel**_**co**_**me…"**_

**gl**_**ar**__**e **__**of**__** ad**__**o**__**r**__**ne**__**d the s**_**m**_**irk of hi**_**s fa**_**ce. "Wh**_**a**_**t was t**_**h**_**at?""You're **__**we**__**lco**__**m**_**ef**_**orthehel**_**pi**_**nca**__**tc**__**hing**_**th**_**ecri**_**mi**_**na**__**ls**__**,"**_

_**his s**__**mir**__**k w**_**it**_**h**_

"_**L**__**is**_**t**_**en**__**―"**_

"Gothbox!"

"What was that?"

"He was gonna call you a Gothbox." Beast Boy turned and pointed at… nothing. "Well… you were gonna say it to Raven… if she was here. Right?"

He stood his ground and stared at the green elf imploring before him.

"I'm here as—"

"—And he was gonna go on this crazy long rant about how he's 'here as a temporary replacement for our mutually acquainted Commissioner Hall' and about how Bronze or somebody 'didn't take too kindly to his friendliness toward superheroes' and he agrees." He slowed down and looked off to the side a bit before continuing. "And then he was gonna say some weird part about us being grateful for him wanting to touch our backs. And leaving the building like a well-done steak…"

"Do you even _know_ what you're saying anymore?" Cyborg asked.

"Beast Boy, are you experiencing pain when you urinate bodily fluids?"

"Did you call _me_ a Gothbox?" I asked.

"…or perhaps you have been partaking in illegal pharmaceuticals?"

An angry stomp interrupted the interrogation. "Nightingale, you better tell Broccoli over there to shut up before he gets you into more trouble than you can handle."

"What's the problem?" Robin answered, stepping forward in stern reply. "We're helping the city. We're helping you, too."

"Good. Now help yourself out of my crime scene." He paused briefly and continued. "And while we're on the subject, why don't you—"

"M_ov__**e ou**__**t**__**!"**_

_**w**__**a**_**s**_** le**_**f**_**t of R**_**o**_**bin **_

_**a **_**bl**_**ack **__**an**__**d **__**ye**_**ll**_**ow**__** cape**_

_**ou**_**r**_**selves rus**_**h**_**ing **_

_**a**_**f**_**t**__**er**_

_**in **_

_**o**_**n**_** the ne**_**ar**_**est e**_**x**_**it**__**. **_

**d**_**id we al**_**l**_**ow h**__**i**__**m **_

_**D**__**id we **_**no**_**t—"**_

_**St**_**a**_**r," R**_**o**_**bin i**__**nt**__**e**_**rr**_**upted**_

_**sm**_**i**_**rk, "we di**_**d**_**n't**_

_**the b**_**e**_**st **__**w**_**a**_**y to ar**_**g**_**ue ba**_**c**_**k wo**__**ul**_**d**

_**be **_

_**t**_**h**_**e clus**_**t**_**er o**__**f ve**_**h**_**icles ju**__**s**__**t **_

_**as **_

"_**L**__**e**__**t's t**_**ak**_**e a driv**_**e**_**…**__**"**_

—

_**se**_**e**_**m **__**li**__**ke the sky **_

_**i**__**s**_

_**o**__**u**__**t the win**__**do**__**w – a**_**f**_**ter **_

_**looking **_

_**str**__**ay **_**s**_**treet sig**_**ns**_** closer to **_

**r**_**e**__**d."**_

**k**_**n**_**o**_**w **__**what e**__**i**_**t**_**her of you t**__**wo **__**are b**_**l**_**ue. Bl**__**u**__**e **_

_**as **_

_**B**__**oy c**_**hi**_**med i**__**n,**__** app**_**e**_**aring **_

**fr**_**on**__**t s**__**eat**__**s **__**l**__**i**_**k**_**e**_

_**so**_**m**_**e**_

_**sor**_**t**

_**o**_**f**

"I think your eye sensors are broken. Cause that sky is purple like a grape. A big juicy…"

"Wait… didn't you say that earlier today?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" I asked, confused beyond belief.

"Cause I knew I was gonna say it now… or something like that."

In a day filled with long uncomfortable silences and awkward silences, this one by far felt the longest.

"Beast Boy, what is actually going on?"

"I don't know," he answered. "I woke up this morning crazy scared that Raven was dead."

Venturing a question, I leaned to the side and faced him. "But I thought Raven was in Asimov."

"Azarath," Cyborg corrected.

"Yes. That."

"Yeah, that's what Robin said, but… I don't know..." He paused and visibly worked out several words in his mouth before continuing. "I remember _seeing_ her today. Not just today, but like fifteen minutes ago. I remember that I ran into her room this morning and she kicked me out all spooky-like again. I remember Inspector Dickhead calling her a Gothbox—"

"—What is a Gothb—?"

"—and I remember that she got hurt in the gunfight we're about to go to."

"…Okay…" Cyborg answered. "I'm willing to entertain the idea that maybe you've got some sort of precog activity goin' on right now." He sighed, never taking the eyes off of the road, but still paying close attention. "I'm even willing to pretend that you can somehow remember Raven being here today even though she's been gone for like a week already. I mean… hey, Starfire traveled to the future that one time, right?"

It occurred to me that I really _should_ read the case files thoroughly someday.

"What I don't understand is the 'did you feel that?' business. What exactly was it that you felt?"

"I don't know. It's a rushing feeling, like I'm going down a waterslide or something. It kinda feels like when I change back from a bird to me really high up in the air and I fall a long way down and the wind is whipping all around. All of a sudden, it's like we just appear somewhere else."

The T-Car snaked around an eighteen-wheeler as we sat in silence, thinking over responses to the claims.

"This is serious stuff, BB. We should probably get some higher-ups involved in this. Maybe call the League and ask if we can maybe get Zata—"

_BSSSSSSSSSSHHH._

"_Cyborg, Beast Boy, Mika._" The video panel on the dashboard of the T-Car buzzed to life as Robin appeared on-screen behind his motorcycle helmet. "_Forget about... whatever his name was. We have access to all of their criminal records, current cases, and news bulletins. And there is no way that we're standing down when..._"

Slowly, my eyes wandered outside and my attention floated after it. For some inexplicable reason, my concentration stayed glued to the rooftops as they passed monotonously by…

A quick glance at a glaring crack in the sidewalk and the road – which had ceased to roll like marble – revealed a similar aesthetic and confirmed my suspicions: we had moved into a darker part of town, a section of the city I hadn't seen since my visit to the Tower.

The alleyways, jutting metal fixtures, the alleyway, the foreclosed bank, and the pawn shop.

I found myself feeling oddly comf_o_rt_a_**b**_**le**__._

_**qui**_**c**_**kl**__**y out**_**li**_**ne**__**d **_

_**the lo**__**o**__**k **_

_**of **_

_**inclu**_**d**_**ing the **__**sta**__**tu**__**s of **__**em**_**e**_**rgenc**__**y. Bl**_**o**_**wing **_

_**ro**_**a**_**d block, **_**t**_**he **_

_**T-C**_**a**_**r **_

**an**_**d scr**__**ee**__**c**_**h**_**ed **_**t**_**o a ha**_**l**_**t **__**b**__**e**_**f**_**ore **_

_**t**_**h**_**e **_

_**sc**_**e**_**ne **_

**A**_** s**_**m**_**all h**__**er**__**d o**_**f**_** cars **_

_**t**_**h**_**e service road t**_**h**_**at join**_**ed with **

_**it **_

_**several the**_**m **_**was act**__**u**__**ally o**_**n f**_**ou**_**r wh**_**ee**_**ls**_**, r**__**ig**__**ht si**_**d**_**e up. The **_

_**up**_**si**_**de d**__**ow**__**n. Spo**__**n**_**ta**_**neous **_

_**gunfire **_**s**_**t**_**r**_**eet, ema**_**n**_**atin**__**g **_

_**f**__**rom **_

_**be**_**h**_**ind a sim**_**i**_**lar – th**__**o**__**ug**_**h**

"_Remember that they haven't returned fire and might be willing to surrender if they see you try to help them._"

Several meters ahead, the various figures huddled behind the assortment of cars and angrily looked around the sides and under the car to the other side. From behind the nearest car, a hand abruptly pointed in our direction and the shielded victim shouted something loudly. Something distinctly angry.

"Uh, Robin... Something tells me there not gonna be accepting any help from us."

_**wh**__**iz**_**ze**_**d b**__**eside the **_

_**w**__**ind**__**ows **_

_**ra**__**ng o**__**ut a**_**n**_**d we f**__**ou**__**nd **_

_**ta**__**r**__**get of **_

_**se**_**v**_**er**__**al **_

_**lo**__**u**_**d**_**ly an**_**d**_**la**__**u**_**gh**_**ed n**_**er**_**v**__**o**__**u**__**s**_**l**_**y.**_

"Definitely not..."

Sparks shot out from the hood of the T-Car; I crouched down in my seat, pushing against Cyborg as he exited through the driver's door that faced away from the unholy shootout. Rolling out, I landed roughly on the ground and listened to the lead hailstorm behind me.

"Things always have to go the hardest way possible… Okay, we gotta move out 'cause they're not going to stop any time soon and my baby can only take so much before the frame starts giving out."

_**t**__**he hai**_**lst**_**orm dr**__**if**__**ted **_

_**the roof, u**__**p**__**r**__**amp**__**, and **__**the s**__**pee**_**di**_**ng **_

_**R- Cycle t**_**h**_**at h**__**ea**__**ded in **_

**s**_**w**__**er**__**ved his way **__**do**__**wn, lea**__**n**__**ing **_

_**sparks the pavement. **__**screeche**__**d **__**to a **__**cr**__**ash**__** into the**_

**f**_**ront **_

_**im**__**m**__**edi**_**at**_**ely, a**__**g**__**ainst the u**_**ne**_**xposed side, rel**_**a**_**tively **_

_**un**_**sc**_**athed**_

_**cl**_**e**_**ar**_

_**is safe," Cy**_**b**_**org **_

_**to **_**w**_**orry n**_**ow**_**."**_

_**N**_**e**_**w Plan! T**_**h**_**e one t**_**h**_**at **__**d**__**o**_**e****s**_**n't **_

_**h**__**a**_**ve**

_**us**_

_**g**__**et**_**t**_**in**_**g**

_**s**_**h**_**o**__**t**_**!**_**"**_

"Alright, New Plan is take out anyone with a gun," Robin shouted, "or better yet, anyone with a tattoo. Cyborg and Raven, take care of the far group from here then join us."

"Titans, g—"

"WAIT!"

We all jerked to a stop before even being able to get up to move.

Beast Boy sat crouched among us, arms stretched wide – though still behind the car – and eyes stretched wider. His open palms motioned for us to halt. A sheepish grimace crept up his face and revealed he probably didn't think we were going to completely pay attention.

"I… I-uh… don't think we should do this."

"We have to stop this fight," Robin shouted over the dull roar behind us. "We'll deal with anything you're worried about after this. I promise. Any and everything. In the meantime…"

"Already ahead of you."

**The sonic cannon was stiffly poised upward, high above the far mass; muted whirring grew louder from the cybernetic weapon as its usual glow intensified and heat radiated disturbingly near my head. A soft click resounded as something reached its limit and the beam shot over the cars, across the battlegrounds, and into a large billboard.**

**Across the street, I spied starbolts, a bo staff, and a green bear knocking around the gang members that weren't taken down by the falling billboard like a tidal wave.**

It was all a matter of overwhelming them before they could gain their bearing or run away or – worse – organize. But it was easy enough to keep them off-balanced, they were trained to respect brute power…

**I could see Beast Boy and Robin making quick work of the confused group on the other side, throwing blows left and right, and tearing their way past furiously disoriented gang members as Starfire subdued the unruly ones without even having to land.**

Smiling to myself, I turned away to face the last of the unruly criminals when something suddenly felt very wrong.

It w_a_s as if the wo_rl_dslowe_d _down. _Not in th_e figu_rative_ se_ns_e… _in a much_ _more real way._

_The world literally… slowed… down._

_And I saw the young_

_thug,_

_probably not even out of high school, _

_on his hand and knees _

_a couple meters away._

_A solid black handgun._

_Hand wrapped around _

_the handle._

_Trigger _

_already_

"WATCH OUT!"

Before I could blink, I found myself being swatted away by a half-ton of solid green bear.

The sounds of the ricochets exploded around me. My ears rang like church bells and my vision briefly doubled.

Scrambling for balance, I hit the ground, skid, and latched onto the first thing I could get both hands on. My forearms tightened and a wave of energy ripped through my body… and surged into the fire hydrant wrapped beneath my desperate embrace.

"Blyat."

**FWOOOOSSSSSSSSH.**

Knocking back dragon-tattooed bodies left and right, the stream burst its way violently through the clump of astonished gang members and left a clear wet path in front of me.

I'd have to remember to say later that it was on purpose…

Stumbling dazedly, several members began clawing wildly at the ground, fumbling for the weapons they had dropped in the spout. Shouts of warning rang out naming our direction of approach as every single imaginable one except the actual one. Which idiot thought we were attacking from underground?

Springing up, I quickly dashed to the confused and distracted thugs, stomping on gun-clutching hands, busting temples into unconsciousness, and moving from one to the next with no hesitation. They fell in rapid succession, straight back like sawed trees, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Cyborg following nailing them down behind me in groups with quickly fired nets.

"You want somma dis, ya little bit—"

The simplest open-handed slap sent the thug sprawled onto the pavement. Starfire lowered her outstretched hand, rubbing her shoulder, and spoke directly to the groaning figure.

"I do not 'want' anything of yours." Her eyes glowed menacingly. "Nor am I little."

A blinding flash.

In a heartbeat, several more thugs fell to ground, dazed by blasts of green and clutching the aching hands that previously held firearms.

A green leopard dashed over the remains of the stunned fighters. His head shot side to side, looking over everything wildly, like some sort of horrible evil was going to burst out at any moment if he didn't glance it down first. He would occasionally encounter a gun on the floor and sweep violently to the side, under some of the overturned cars or back toward the T-Car. Beast Boy leaped across the former divide between the gang members and manically continued his scanning, crossing in front of me just as I stood up from sweep over an attacker.

Pausing for breath, I looked across the street and laid eyes on a subdued crowd.

For several minutes, everything was still.

The Titans and I stood spread over the former warzone with held breaths. Nothing moved except for the occasional twitches of the fallen foes, their muffled groaning the only noise closer than the distant bustle of highway traffic.

"Good job, Titans." Robin spun the bo staff, collapsing and pocketing it before continuing. "Keep an eye out for anybody feeling particularly spiteful after that battle."

Everyone cautiously scanned the fallen thugs as a weak whine in the distance grew gradually louder. I stopped in place and watched pinpoint blue and red lights grow larger from the distance.

Police

Quite a few, apparently.

"..And here's the cavalry. Maybe _this_ time they'll—"

_"C_**o**_**me n**_o_w**, **_

_**s**ile**n**_**c**_**e as shud**_**d**_**e**rs** and ga**__**s**__**ps**_

_**precari**_**o**_**us position, I would th**__**ink **__**th**_**i**_**s a**__**u**__**die**__**nce **_

_**in**__**vi**__**tin**__**g**__**… **_

**a**_** sadistic s**_**m**_**ile **__**an**__**d a **_

_**di**_**s**_a**pp**_**e**_**are**_**d**

_**fl**__**u**_**r**_**ry of confetti and **_

_**Sp**__**ar**__**ks d**_**a**_**n**c**ed as the drill**_

_**doo**__**r.**_

**s**_**h**__**ot the han**_**d**_**s at the s**_**am**_e** moment **_

_**t**_**h**_**at**_

_b__o__**o**_**t **

_**up in, **__**m**__**y d**_**e**_**ar," **_

_**an**_**n**_**ounced as the remaining **_

_**crazed c**_**ri**_**m**__**in**__**al barke**_**d **

b_**ack**__** up **__**and **__**gat**__**h**__**e**_**r**_**e**__**d h**__**imself. A su**_**d**_**den **_**s**_**mile came **__**over his**_

**f**_**ace **_

_**m**_**a**_**de here **_**s**_**afely. H**_**a**_**h**a__**h**_**ah**_**a…"**_

**wa**_**s already upo**n h**im. **_

_**goo**_**f**_**y face full for**ce**. **_

With

_**incr**__**edi**__**bly, gave a kick **_**w**_**ith an unbeli**__**evabl**__**y large boo**t **t**h**a**t s**ent **_**R**_**obi**_

**r**_**am ch**_**a**_**rged at the v**__u__l**nerable **_

legs

_**stop a pi**c_**k**_**up **_**tr**_**uck. **_

_**a l**_**a**_**r**__**ge mirr**o**r **_**a**_**nd **__**d**__**efl**_**e**_**cte**__**d **_

_**a **_

_**his **_**d**_**ire**__**ctio**__**n.**__** "**__**N**__**o**_**w****,**_** now, **_

_**do**_**w**_**n to **b**us**_**i**_**ness? Let's **__**pas**__**s **__**t**__**he **_**p**_**ipe**_

_**vi**_**vi**_**d**__**ly **_

_**su**_**d**_**d**__e_**n**_**ly str**__u__**c**__**k t**_**h**_e_

_**N**__o_thing.

_The Day Begins_—

"We've been here before!"

Starfire paused on the brink of throwing two rather large starbolts. "We are supposed to be frightened?"

"Terrified, my pretty!" Mumbo answered, spreading a crazy grin even wider than before and holding his arms out dramatically.

"Okay, everybody," Beast Boy shouted, "I know nobody is going to believe me but… we were here a couple days ago and Mumbo was being retarded and trying to rob this bank—"

"—I'm standing right here, you insolent little—"

"—Right! He's already here and we're already here and these big hand-glove-things are about to pop up and get us and we're gonna have to say a bunch of witty one-liners and kick their butt but then they're gonna get us and we're gonna fake out way out cause Robin's gonna do this secret plan thing! Thererightthere, getit!"

Robin, the nearest to the threat, spun around, flinging out two birdarangs to counterattack a sneaking, large, white live glove. They pounced toward us from nowhere and we immediately spread out.

"Titans, go!"

Kangaroo feet struck two henchhands back several feet. The two shook their "heads" and jumped to converge on the changeling.

Swooooooooooooooo—SLAM

An incoming glove in the midst of a barrage of green starbolts quickly swept them both aside.

"I'm okay, Star," Beast Boy said as Starfire opened her mouth. "Look out for the gloves behind you."

"Beast Boy," Starfire began, "you are unhar—"

Thump.

A wave of gloves tackled her mid-air before she could finish.

"Ha HA!" Mumbo jested. "You can never—" Fortunately, a titanium arm smashed him from behind and stopped any unspeakably terrible pun he was about to release.

A green light welled up underneath the pile of hands off to the side and an explosion threw hands everywhere. Starfire rose from the remains of the attack and immediately turned to face Beast Boy.

"Please, tell me how did you have precognitive awareness of the attack on my back."

"I told you guys," he answered, ducking beneath another attack, "we've already been here before and I think we really _n__**e**_**e**_**d to—"**_

_**things won't st**__**o**__**p **_

_**co**__**ming!"**_

_**A fl**_**o**_**od of **__**e**__**merald fury **_**t**_**ook care o**_**f**_** the henc**_**h**_**men **_

"_**S**_**t**_**op pl**__**ay**__**in**_**g**_** with those toys." He flic**_**k**_**ed his**_

_**wrist **_

_**in ran**_**d**_**om pl**__**ac**__**e**__**s. **__**"**__**I**__**t's rea**_**l**_**ly **_

_**afternoon! Ha**_**h**_**ahahah**_**a**_**ha… scow**_**l**_**ed at t**_**h**_**e insane bindi**__**n**_**g**_**s a**__**n**__**d ov**__**e**__**r **_

_**t**_**h**_**e **_

_**glo**__**ves. "Well, the vault beck**_**on**_**s me and I'm **_

_**no**_**t**

_**under the grasp of a **__**m**__**ulti**_**t**_**ude of han**_**d**_**s, the watc**_**h**_**ed as the villain**_

_**crac**_**k**_**ed **_

_**a **_

**s**_**mile **_

_**c**__**a**__**lle**_**d**_** out. "You **_

_**e**__**n**__**tire te**_**a**_**m lo**__**ok**__**ed at the same con**_**f**_**usion as the demen**_**t**_**ed**_

_**didn't look back at them, but instead continued his arro**_**g**_**ant smirk. "Yo**__**u**_

_**were **_

_**gu**__**ess you're going to just throw t**_**h**_**at **_

_**awa**_**y**_**…**__**"**_

Two feet landed with a thud on the roof of the car, causing the thin metal to bend inward slightly under the added weight. The thick, mud-crusted, black combat boots led up a similarly dark outfit to the snarling face of a gray-skinned hoodlum.

"That's right!" he yelled. "Johnny Rancid's back!"

He vaulted down the buckling roof, kicking off dust from his faded grey jeans and landing squarely on the ground with a heavy thud. A dark exhaust cloud formed around him and he smiled evilly.

"Victims, meet my dog Wrex…"

A huge metallic creature that resembled the lovechild between a bulldog and a V-8 engine left out a mechanical roar beside the shouting villain and stamped the ground with its forepaws. Screams accompanied its roars as the crowds ran every which direction, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the killer dog robot as possible.

The low resonance of the chains being snapped to their limits soon joined in as the robotic behemoth tugged madly against its chain and let a spittle of oil drool drip from its open jaws.

Rancid cackled at his pet and smiled mischievously before whooping a war cry… and dropping the chain.

Wrex needed no persuading.

He tore away like a hellhound, destroying a nearby car and terrorizing the scattered civilians.

"Run for your lives! Run from my doggie!"

The beast dashed from place to place, knocking over whatever it pleased and biting through metal like butter. In its path, a woman stood transfixed, guarding her daughter and quivering before the incoming monster.

A barrage of starbolts knocked it away mid-leap and sent the attack dog crashing face-first into the concrete street.

Starfire landed, hands still glowing and we filed in quickly behind her.

Robin pointed the bo staff at Rancid.

"We're shutting you down, Johnny…"

Beast Boy smiled from his perch on the mailbox. "…And your little dog too."

"Wait… what?" He hopped down and threw a quick glance around before turning back to the rest of the Titans. "What are we doing here!? We've definitely been here before. This is the day Silkie exploded! Remember? Killer Moth tried to take him back after we beat last time? And Robin was all 'Kitten sucks' and I was like 'Star, hide Silkie!' and Silkie was like EXPLODE EVERYWHERE and then Star was all 'Can I keep him?' and we were all 'Gross, it's eating Star's alien berries' and we then WE LAUGHED!?"

"Please, Beast Boy what can we—"

"How sure are you abou—"

"—a robotic dog _attacking_ us—"

"WREX, SIC 'EM!"

"—tans! Go!"

The giant canine burst forward, cracking the road where we stood only moments before. We led a quick and immediate offensive: cannon shots, starbolts, tossed cars, but nothing slowed the beast down as it knocked past the Titans and destroyed the public space.

I leapt forward with both escrima sticks brandished and a fall bo staff beside me. They all hit simultaneously, and we beat furiously on the mechanical hound for scant seconds before he swatted us away with his own metallic head.

"Smooth move," Rancid shouted from afar, "My dog is kicking your—"

Ass hooves struck him in the chest and sent him flying like a ragdoll. Gloating for a single second, Beast Boy managed a disturbing and awkward mule smile… before turning to face a charging dog hungry from some donkey-meat.

"Whoooooaaaaa! Down, boy!" Cyborg shouted, snatching a flailing chain out from the air and digging his heels into the ground.

He was instantly pulled up.

"Heel! HEEL!"

The charging beast threw itself violently, jumping over cars and changing directions suddenly, clearly furious at the idea of being reined in.

Coming to a street corner, it suddenly stopped and changed directions immediately… sending Cyborg straight into the concrete walls of the tall office building in front of him. Wrex tore away with Cyborg still holding a death grip on the chain and pulled him along the wall.

With each tug, it crashed Cyborg further along the wall and took another chunk of structure… until finally, it tore him out, scraped and busted onto the broken sidewalk.

We all rushed to meet the downed Titan, ignoring the shadows shifting inexplicably beneath our feet.

What?

"…ilding…"

We kept running forward.

"…watch… …ilding!"

Reacting belatedly, I slowed down still tens of meters away from Cyborg and looked upward.

The flimsy remainders of two office building walls had given out under the weight of the rest of the tower. Off-balance, the mammoth of a tower was already on its way down to where Cyborg lay.

I stopped in my tracks, bolted to the right, and, all at once, the tower collapsed onto the floor. Within a single second, a large mountain of rubble stood over where I was heading.

And the rubble remained motionless.

Dead.

—

_crushed..._

—

_body...?_

—

_ find him..._

—

_look... _

—

_where?..._

—

_..._

—

_buried..._

—

_dig..._

—

_ where's..._

—

_the..._

—

_body?..._

—

_where... _

—

_..._

—

_buried._


	18. Day Breaks

_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_Th__**e D**__ay Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day B__**e**__gins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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t_he Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_Th__**e**__ Day Begins_

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_Th__**e**__ Day Begins_

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_th__**e**__ Day Begins_

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_Th__**e**__ Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Be__**g**__ins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The D ay Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The __**D**__ay Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day begins_

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_T__**he**__ Day Be__**gi**__ns_

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_The Day Be__**g**__ins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_The Day Begins_

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_Th__**e Da**__y B eg__**in**__s_

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_Th__**e Da**__y __**Begi**__ns_

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_**The Day Begins**_

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_**Th e Day Begins**_

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_**The Da y B eg ins**_

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_**The D ay B egin s**_

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_**T he Da y Be **_**g**_**i ns**_

—

_**Th e D ay Begistompsto.**__**stomp..**__**St**_**o**_**tomp.**__**to**__**mp.**__**t**__**o**__**mpS**__**t**__**omompt**_

_**opSto**_—Greenburstthroughtheslidingdoorandskidtoanabrupt—

"Where are we?"

"I do not understand…"

"Where are we?"

"Umm… here?"

"What's going on?"

"It's just a normal day."

"Where is Cyborg?"

"Were we just… Weren't we just…?"

"Does anyone remember the highway?"

"Excuse me, does anyone know where Cyborg is?"

"The what?"

"The warehouse?"

"Gothbox?"

"Raven?"

"Everything is normal."

"Where is the Empath?"

"Hello? You okay?"

"Azarath?"

"What's going on?"

"Why is…"

"Might I inquire as to the nature of your preoccupation?"

"How did…"

"No, I cannot say that I have. Perhaps Robin knows her location?"

"Where are…"

"ALRIGHT! Will somebody _please_ tell me what the **hell** is going on!?"

Beast Boy stood with a crazed expression on his face. Deep breathes echoed through the hall as his chest heaved visibly and forced out air through his clenched jaw. I nervously eyed his fingers, which had turned into claws and were digging deeply into the metal framework of the threshold of Raven's room.

He followed my gaze and quickly released his claws, but the grip had left **d**e**e**_**p**_** sc**ars_ alo__**n**_**g **_**t**__he_ _**r**_**u**i_n_

_**e**__**d**_

_**w**__**a**__l_

_**l.**_

"**A**lright, who's here!?"

I raised a hand wearily. "I am."

"I am."

"I, as well, am presen—"

"—Cool," Beast Boy answered, interrupting the Tamaranean mid-reply. "Now I'm gonna ask a really easy question and if anybody has an answer, just say it… Did anybody feel something weird happen just now?"

A brief moment of still silence settled over the Computer Room. Utterly confused, I turned to face Starfire, who raised her small red eyebrows as high as they would go and slowly turned to Robin.

"What… kind of 'weird' are we talking abou—?"

"Skips. Scratches. Jumps. In time or something. Like one second, we're doing one thing and the next we're

—

_the day begins_

—

someplace else!"

"Victims, meet my dog Wrex!"

Rancid cackled at his pet and smiled mischievously before whooping a war cry… and dropping the chain.

"Run for your lives! Run from my doggie!"

Robin pointed the bo staff at Rancid.

"We're shutting you down, Johnny—"

"Okay dudes," Beast Boy interrupted, "this is the last time, I promise! Try hard – I mean like _really_ hard – to remember if we've been here before. Please, guys. Just try it one last time."

I slowly moved my eyes from the giant mechanical dog that loomed in the distance to the small green boy that was freaking out in front of me. He couldn't have been expecting us to take him seriously, not since his crazy outburst this morning… er, yesterday morning… er, last… when was it?

"I believe I may remember…"

We faced Starfire with curious eyes.

"I remember… Silkie. He… was involved in an… explosion? We might have consumed zorkaberries, as well." She paused and placed a hand on her face. "It feels like observing a painting on a thin piece of paper. I can hardly recall it in my memory but… it is possible… that I… I am almost sure that… I—"

Her eyes darted upwards suddenly as a dog-shaped shadow emerged below us.

"Look out behind

—

_the da y be gin s_

—

you, Robin!"

Green eyes widened in unrestrained terror.

"I certainly remember this!"

A dozen students stood around, tension and excitement mixed on their young faces. It was a sea of tuxedos and strapless dresses, gel and hairspray, bowties and shawls. Awkward guys and nervous girls stood in groups, taking pictures and chatting anxiously at tables with simple centerpieces and star-shaped balloons. The cool ocean breeze playfully tossed the balloons around and the moon hung large and full in the night sky as the ship sailed slowly away from the bay.

At the center of the party deck, draped over the front of the main refreshments table, a banner hung with a title for the momentous occasion:

_Your Date with Destiny._

"Of all of the events to relive, why would mysterious powers force us to relive _this one_ again!?" The alien Titan spun around wildly before spying a very familiar-looking pink dress and blond hair snuggled up closely to a masked Titan on the dance floor.

A green glow grew around her as a fist clenched and her feet left the ground. "Never again!"

The Tamaranean hand jolted forward, grabbed the little blond teenager by the shoulder, and angrily sent her flying into a nearby table.

"Robin! This is not real!" she shouted, clutching the Titan by both shoulders and shaking him violently. "It is some sort of _illusion_! Or perhaps it is not! Whichever the case, we have participated in this Appointment with the Destiny previously to much dismay!

"Star…"

"We have _defeated_ the nefarious Kitten long ago and are now subject to a **chronological disaster**! Or perhaps a **supernatural manipulation **of the temporal flows! Or perhaps the vengeance of an **ancient force** long forgotten that is trying to—"

"STAR!"

Shouting ceased as she paused and stared with confusion at her teammate.

"I remember, Starfire. I… I think… maybe…" Robin blink forcefully and continued. "I remember Beast Boy saying something about repeating and… I think maybe he's… right. We've been here before."

His eyes moved past the orange-tanned alien shoulder to the angry teenager in the pink dress scowling in their direction.

"Yeah… we've _definitely_ been here before…"

"Then let us subdue these evil criminals and find Bea

**s**t

**B**_o__**y**_

**to **f_**i**__n_**d…**

**a **_**w**__a_**y…**

_**o**_

**u**_t_

"How do you use this thing!?" Beast Boy said aloud to the empty room. Deep in Titans Tower, he sat at the central computer terminal, typing slowly and angrily. "I _knew_ I shoulda listened when Robin showed how to use this thing instead of trying to come up with that dumb joke about which computer games it had. The joke wasn't even that good! GAH!"

Both hands slammed against the keyboard as the computer processed the random requests he typed.

"We shoulda bought a Mac…"

Time passed slowly as the green Titan navigated his way through the jungle of interfaces.

Click.

Click.

Tap tap tap.

Click.

"Time travel… _Time travel_, anyone? Why isn't there **anything** on TIME TRA— oh, here it is."

Green eyes charged madly over a hostile environment of multisyllabic monsters and bewildering diagrams. Scroll after scroll revealed fresh pages of indiscernible scientific jargon, swarms of black ants on a bone-white background.

"What? This doesn't make any sense! I can't... No." The chair fell back as Best Boy sprang away from the computer. "C'm**on**_**!**_** N**_**ot **_

_**y**_**e**_**t**_

—

"

"_**T**_**ha**t. Was. Awesome!"

"I can't believe they—"

"—was amazing when he—"

"—rfire totally slapped that bit—"

"—and then they knocked over all the—"

"Robin, I do not understand what is happening."

He sighed and dropped the communicator from his hand. They stood at the edge of the deck as the police collected the criminal couple and secured the masses of excited high schoolers.

"I don't know what to tell you, Star," Robin answered slowly. "This doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I have this feeling of deja vu but every time I focus on a memory, it seems to..."

"Slip away?"

"We should find the others. We have to find a way to get to the bottom of this mess and find a way to the

—

_t he d a y b eg i ns_

—

five stories of flaming happiness.

He gazed a little bit uncomfortably at the raging fire before him as Starfire and Beast Boy in falcon form drifted in from the midday sky. Soon, the three stood several meters from the police line, eyeing the building in all of its burning glory.

"I'll go… check it… out," Robin started, uneasily mouthing the words. Looking at a group of policemen talking heatedly several meters away, he shook his head and continued. "…Nevermind, I know exactly what they're going to tell me…"

From my place atop the roof of the burning building, I watched the three Titans gather around on the ground before the base. They moved in confusion, walking slowly and glancing around the panicked crowds.

What were they doing? Why weren't they hurrying?

Suddenly, Beast Boy appeared to be the only one speaking, his back turned to me as a look of determination arose on the faces of the other Titans. Their reactions puzzled me: why did they stop the rescue?

Robin and Starfire suddenly charged over police cars and past roadblocks into the mass of spectators before the office building.

There were still too many civili—

"Be careful, young girl." I turned to see an elder man standing idly to my side.

"Thank you, old man. Please hold on to me and we'll try to—"

"No."

He pointed a finger forward and shook back a red cloth draped around his shoulders.

"Okei, we will try to go through—"

"Listen to me," he replied, closing the distance between us in a single step. Our eyes aligned and I found myself unable to look away. White hair hung long across the right side of his face. Long strands of matching white facial hair made him look ancient, and his slow deliberate voice echoed the same image: "Be careful with the Titans."

I finally noticed his unusual clothing: a red kimono-like garment draped over a plain black shirt, with worn-out sandals on his feet.

His eyes narrow. "You look like a wise girl. Am I correct?"

I stared back, unable to understand the scene unfolding before me.

"Of course you are wise. You don't seem like an individual asking to be deceived, a 'rube,' as it were. A victim, like the other helpless, useless citizens of this city. No... I can see the mistrust in your eyes, the constant challenge to the world around you."

A momentary pause allowed me the opportunity to fail to respond. The corner of his mouth turned upward and he continued his speech. "Not answering is not the same as denying, is it? Just because you don't protest doesn't mean you embrace. But you already know that. Look at your days with the Teen Titans."

"Who are you?" I replied.

"You are far from blind. You sleep with both eyes open. Alert, aware, but not afraid."

"What. Do. You. Want?"

"It is what makes you strong, what has kept you alive against such insurmountable odds. Now is not the time to give u—"

"TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!" I yelled, flexing my fingers and lowering myself into an offensive position. I readied my hands to block whatever was about to be coming my way.

The old man laughed, apparently amused at my outburst.

"Certainly."

—

"_Look for anything out of place."_

The three Titans scrambled over cars, weaving around the obstacles before them.

"_Look for anyone who looks wrong, awkward, or conspicuous. Anything that doesn't fit in, anyone that doesn't mesh, anything incompatible with its surroundings."_

A green fox darted between the feet of the crowd, sniffing everything within reach. In the sky, Starfire combed the citizens for anomalies, watching faces and listening for key words. Robin sprinted around the sides, scanning the recesses of nearby alleyways, trash cans, doorways, and ledges for objects out of place.

Leaping out from the forest of legs, Beast Boy gasped for air and slowly stood up, turning to look over the loud and busy scene. Amid the blaring sirens and shouts, he muttered only to himself.

"What are we even looking for?"

—

"I am but a humble elder. My years are many and my words are wise. My ways are persistent and well-respected. There are those who believe me dangerous. The latter tend to harbor blind anger toward my ideals." He paused shortly before continuing his words. "But that is not the right question for you. The question that should be crawling through the alcoves of your mind should be, 'Who are my friends?"

The earlier smile disappeared entirely, instead replaced with a grimace and a stony, unblinking stare.

"What do you really know about them? How open about themselves have they been with you?"

"They are heroes, they have shared everything," I answered quickly without thinking. "They are good."

"Child, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Rare is the person who begins life wanting to destroy, possess, and subjugate. No… the daily struggle for justice in an unjust world drives a person to the darkness within, a darkness that exists even within the hearts of your 'good' friends."

He paused briefly, tilting his head as if to examine me from another angle.

"Hmmm... friends... Are they even that to you? You can judge that for yourself. You've had friends before, haven't you?"

—

"The answer has to be _here_," Beast Boy murmured.

A green peregrine falcon flapped up from the sidewalk and scanned across the crowded street before shifting back to disappointed elf form.

"The answer's... not here." He suddenly plopped down to the floor from his perch on the mailbox. Widening his eyes, a quick yelp escaped before he continued. "The answer is inside."

—

We stood motionlessly, less than two meters apart, eyes locked. I didn't know what to expect but found myself unable to separate from the standoff. Queasiness gripped my stomach, hunching me slightly forward and making me feel a sudden fatigue in my limbs.

"This is for you," he said suddenly, reaching quickly.

—

"We can't fight our way out," Beast Boy shouted. Confused masses of bystanders gave him puzzled looks as he walked to a clear spot on the floor and paced around. "There's only one thing to do."

He dropped down into a cross-legged position on the floor.

"C'mon Raven-y thing... let's do something..."

—

My fingers delicately held a small piece of thick parchment. Smooth, black writing formed two lines of calligraphy across the center of the paper; the strokes had been precise and flawless.

"The top line is the reason the Titans will never trust you. Uncover more and see yourself through the eyes of your supposed allies."

—

Panicked voices shouted across the parking lot as firemen poured into the blazing inferno and masses of spectators screamed their worries to each other. In front of the building, Beast Boy filled his chest deeply with clean air and closed his eyes.

Exhale.

—

A feeling of light-headedness made me wince bitterly; my stomach churned and my arms felt unnaturally tired and weak.

"The bottom line is the reason you shouldn't trust them. Follow the trail and discover the truth of your so-called heroes."

Buckling suddenly, my left knee gave out and hit the concrete rooftop ungracefully. I fought to lift my head to maintain eye contact and stand my ground but could only speak with a dazed stare in the general direction. "Why... should I... trust you?"

—

Inhale.

Exhale.

—

The old man shook his head slowly and laughed with obvious entertainment. "What a silly question, Child..."

—

"C'mon... concentrate on something..."

—

"...You already know the answer..."

He bent down and met my eyes with a sense of self-satisfaction, then whispered in voice that traveled down my spine to the pit of my weakened stomach:

"Doverie nikto."

My eyes fluttered and I jerked back in a sudden spasm.

"How do..."

Losing balance, I pitched to the side and plunged over the side of the roof.

—

"It's not real..."

—

I fought to keep my eyes open, but the tearing wind dried them out and force me to plunge downward blindly.

For the first time in years, I plummeted toward the ground with total fear clawing at my heart.

.

Inhale.

Exhale.

.

Arms flailing weakly, I continued to drop.

.

"This..."

.

Falling.

.

"...is..."

.

Cracking a sliver of my left eye open, I saw a green mass coming into focusg beneath me.

.

"...not..."

.

I opened my mouth to cry out a warning and blacked out.

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"...real."

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_falling_

_._

_down_

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_where_

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_down_

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_inside_

_inside the day_

_._

_where?_

_down the answer_

_._

_down this_

_._

_Skips._

_._

_Scratches._

_._

_Jumps._

_._

_In time._

_._

_falling_

_._

_paved with..._

_._

_down_

_._

_the answer is inside_

_._

_the day_

_._

_where?_

_._

_down_

_._

_the day_

_._

_falling_

_._

_the day begins_

_._

_where?_

_._

_...with good intentions_

_._

_...ah..._

_._

_this is not real_

_._

_there is no..._

_._

_...aahhh..._

_._

_the day begins_

_._

_...aaaahhhhhh..._

_._

_there is no..._

_._

_inside_

_._

_._

_the day begins_

_._

_there is no..._

_._

_the answer is..._

_._

_the day begins_

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_the day begins_

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_the day begins_

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_there is no..._

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_this is not..._

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**.**

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_**.**_

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_**.**_

_**AAAA**_**A**_**A**__A__**A**_**A**_**A**__A_A_AA__**AA**_AH_HH_H_H__**H**__HHH_HH_H_HHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Spasming wildly to the left, Beast Boy teetered over the edge and brought the whole table crashing down along with him.

"GWAH!" He clawed madly at his face, tearing at the cold metal and rubber that obstructed his vision. Digging a claw under an edge, he struggled with mask before tearing it off completely. A raw sensation at his wrists made him gingerly touch the skin as he blinked back the brilliant white light flooding the room.

Buzzes and hums echoed rhythmically around him.

"Not real not real not real not real notrealnotrealnotrealnotreal…"

A metallic hand rested on his shoulder and lifted him up to his feet as he rubbed his eyes and slowly regained his focus.

"Thanks, Cy. Listen dude, I think I might know how to…"

The red blur slowly focus into a solid body; it was a tall soldier with a bearskin on his titanium head and a stiff military uniform wrapped around his wide torso. A rifle rested from his hand to his right shoulder and a frozen scowl sat bolted onto his face.

"MOTHER OF TOFU!"

Kangaroo legs bucked spastically outward and smashed the giant robotic toy soldier away onto a nearby table.

"Wha… who?" Cyborg muttered, gears slowly whirring to life.

"Oh, man. Wake up!" Giant green gorilla hands slammed down onto an arm and wrist restraint attached to the next table, and tore away the pieces of metal in a fury. The mask restraint was the next to go. "Cy, help me wake everybody up right **now**!"

The free mechanical arm hissed softly and transformed into a cannon; the organic eye on his face squinted and blinked furiously as the mechanical one moved quickly between dilations and lenses. With a guttural shout, Cyborg shot out restraints with the cannon, and tore himself away from the table, blindly following his instructions toward the nearest table.

"Man, I'd really like to know what's goin' on right about now…"

A burning sensation across my forearms and biceps made me bolt upward. Just before sitting up, wires running to my face caught and pulled me back down onto the steel platform.

"Gak!"

Angrily tearing off a cold, heavy cover from my face, I waited tensely until the scene before me finally made sense.

Six metal tables were spaced in a radial pattern in the Main Room of the Tower around a large machine that resembled some sort of generator. On each table, a Titan fought blindly against a complicated set of metallic arm, leg, and torso restraining bands. Each Titan had removed or was removing a full-face mask composed of wires and antenna like the one I held in my hands.

And each Titan looked as confused as me.

Except Beast Boy.

"Everybody up!"

Without warning, a sea of robotic soldiers dressed in old red coats surrounded us. Bayonets pointed at us from every direction as we slowly pulled away the last restraints.

"Everybody alright?' Robin asked quietly, muttering just beneath his breath without moving his lips and looking around in a daze. "Try not to make any sudden moves…"

"Quite right, Birdboy. I was about to say the same thing!"

I glanced toward the source of the sound and spied an odd distant figure. He sat in front of the expansive glass wall in an oversized gold throne. A large crown rested on his red hair; the room lights glinted off its jewels and the rose-tinted spectacles on his small nose. A mocking smile hung on his youthful face and an odd collection of bizarre clothing hung from his bony frame. Hopping spryly off the throne, he opened his arms widely toward us and held up an expensive-looking cane.

"Can't have you little interferin' snots running around and sticking your dirty fingers in all my perfect plans!"

"Mad Mod," Robin growled, clenching a fist.

"'ullo, my duckies! Happy to see our last runaround is still fresh in your little brains!" Smiling broadly, the smug man leaped onto the coffee table in the middle of the room and continued shouting his boisterous, grating British accent. "But I'm dreadfully afraid your mem'ries won't stay fresh much longer. Privates!"

The eyes of each mechanical soldier lit up a dull red color as he fiddled with the jeweled tip of his cane.

"Arrest these miscreants in the name of the King! King Mod that is!"

Several dozen rifles raised up simultaneously, pointing slightly downward toward our chests.

"Okay! Forget what I said before," Beast Boy said, shrugging. "Everybody down!"

He dropped to the floor, morphing into a green squid and pulling in the nearest loose tables. The remaining five of us ducked down just in time to avoid the first round of gunfire from the other side of our makeshift cover.

"Is it still tonight?" I asked.

"What?"

The second wave of gunfire hit.

"Did we fight Dr. Light earlier tonight? How long have we been… asleep?"

"We'll have time to figure that out later," Robin answered. "Right now, we've got to get our hands on that staff. Spread out, take care of the crazy palace guards, and try to sneak up on him. Everybody rotate distracting, attacking, and sneaking up on him. Titans, scatter!"

As the next volley hit the titanium tables around us, we burst out, tossing the tables at our attackers and fanning out into the invaded Main Room.

I reached the nearest standing soldier and beat the rifle away with a quick take of the escrima. The second blow went straight to its neck, beating the joint furiously until the metal broke inward and the wires were exposed. Frantically pulling them apart, I griped the wires tightly, concentrating deeply and starting a flow from my hands upward. A delicious flow of… nothing.

What a piece of trash.

Restless fatigue wracked my body, leaving my fingers twitching in anxiety and my chest aching. I needed a power source desperately: the strange hibernation had completely drained my reservoir of energy. Ducking behind a nearby table, I hid from the shots flying and waited for a moment to move forward.

"What d'you think you're doing in here, Mod?" Robin asked, dodging a bayonet and bringing up a boot to a soldiers face.

"Not that it should be any concern of a nosy lot like you brats, but…" He hopped from the table to the couch and smacked his cane into the head of an unsuspecting Cyborg with a jeering laugh. "…you Titans are going to be my batteries. I quite like my young self and I said myself, I said, 'Moddie, why drain one birdie when you take the whole flock?' HAhA!"

The green rhino bucked past some clumsy gunfire and into a cluster of soldiers, sending them reeling. A robot caught in its horn struggled spasmodically, before being quickly sent crashing into a computer terminal mounted on the far wall.

"Yo, watch it!" Cyborg shouted, shooting back the stabbing bayonets from a crouched position. "We're still inside of _our_ tower! You don't wanna— Sweet Baby Jesus!"

He plowed through two approaching soldiers and slid to his knees in a corner of the room, hands gingerly picking through a small pile of scrap metal.

"YOU BROKE THE GAMESTATION!?"

"Oh, that infernal BoobBox? You should be thanking me, you blinkered tin can. It was rotting your little brains before I could even get to them. And it was ruinin' the décor of the room! Looks much better now as the manky decoration it is!"

"You do not have permission to be inside of here!" Starfire grabbed a soldier by the arms and tore them off, eyes glowing a dark shade of green. She quickly moved on to the next nearest soldier. "This is our home!"

"And you better not have gone in my room," Raven muttered.

"You mean that dank, gloomy dungeon-excuse-for-a-room? Don't get your knickers in a twist, lass, we only used that for a closet! HAhA!"

Soldiers flew throughout the room.

"Big. Mistake."

Mod ducked, slipping out of Starfire's grasp as she tackled from behind. The cane swung, smacked squarely into her stomach, and sent visible jolts of electricity flowing into her body; Star shot away involuntarily, taking out a chunk of the wall as she crashed into it and fell like a bag of rocks.

"You snots are just too much work. Now if only the bloody mind-control equipment I got from that lunatic Jervis Tetch wasn't such rubbish, you'd all still be loopy! And your little twit friend Beast Bloke there wouldn't 'ave suspected a thing."

I eyed the shining staff in his hand and licked my lips…

"Now, I'm going to 'ave to trap your minds one by one all over again. The machine will take your donkey little memories back through time, while I'm here ruling the city with your precious—"

He sidestepped a black-encased couch and clicked his staff. A gang of soldiers reached up and pulled Raven straight out of the air by the cloak.

"—your precious Tower and five fresh new batter… six fresh… new… batt… _five_ fresh new— sodding _hell_! How many of you Teen Twits _are_ ther—!?"

"Do you know how CRAZY you made me!?"

Mod jumped in time to barely miss the green panther lunging for his body. Passing him, Beast Boy morphed back and skid on the ground.

"Everybody thought I was nuts!Hell, _**I**_ thought I was nuts! And you did this just to be young!?"

"I bally well did! You little brats are just going to waste your precious youth anyway. What with all this running around and acting like—"

"Enough!" Robin shouted and struck his bo staff through the head of a robotic soldier. Pulling it out, he slowly walked toward the flamboyant villain. "You are _not_ going to keep monologuing. Not now. Not after this. Not. In. OUR. TOWER."

I lunged forward, catching the bottom end of the staff from behind the distracted villain and grabbing on to his shoulder. He immediately pitched forward, trying to throw me over his shoulder, but I held on to that glimmering staff for dear life. Planting my feet, I braced myself and closed my eyes.

Please please please please ple—

The impact of the sweeping stegosaurus tail knocked me into the couch and threw Mod backward, making him reach out for a way to keep his balance.

Robin weaved a hand in and caught the flailing staff.

"Nighty night, Mod."

He twisted away from the villain, pulling the staff from his hands; Robin completed the spin and brought it back outstretched into his face. Spit flew as Mod stumbled back a few steps then crumpled into an unconscious heap on the floor.

—

I stared at the gathered remains of the staff collected in the center of the Main Room: Robin had brought it crashing down onto the floor shortly after knocking out Mad Mod. Sparks had jumped wildly, then grown tamer, and eventually died. The potential was gone, wasted into the ground.

Sighing, I sat up and watched the activity around the room. Cyborg and Starfire pushed up overturned furniture and appliances; Raven floated back and forth, examining areas of concentrated destruction; Beast Boy aimlessly dug through the wreckage; and everyone tiptoed over broken piles of scrap metal. Robin sat a few meters away, like me watching everyone else and silently mulling everything over.

"Dude, I have _such_ a crazy headache."

"I hear ya…"

"I strongly agree…"

"Does anybody actually remember anything?"

"I remember Beast Boy running into my room screaming," Raven said.

"I recall being of the 'stealthy,'" Starfire added.

Cyborg snorted. "I remember 'arthritix.'"

"I don't remember anything," I admitted.

"I do!" Beast Boy beamed. "When we were goin' all loopy and stuff, I was the only one that kept my head cool and remembered everything! I knew what was going on, when it was going on!"

"Good," Robin replied with a smirk, "then, you can write up the report on this one."

He exhaled and looked around.

"Now we're going to have to upgrade security."

All eyes glared at Robin.

He looked away sheepishly. "Well, I didn't mean tonight…"

"There's so much trash everywhere," Raven replied, "I don't think we could do it even if we wanted."

"You know what? Cyborg, can you see if we can just set everything on manual lockdown?"

Cyborg nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem. The manual lockdown is a system completely separate from the Tower security network."

"As for everything else… we'll deal with it tomorrow." He sighed and plopped down on a torn couch cushion. "First Light. Then those crazy dreams. Then _this_ mess? We need to get some rest. Catch some Zs, get up when you're ready tomorrow, and we'll start clean up. For now… goodnight, everybody."

A lull settled on the room as each Titan made their way to the doorway to the bedrooms.

I slinked off the couch and sneaked one last look at the lifeless equipment scattered around the room. Sapped, I walked away from the wreckage and told myself that I would reenergize tomorrow.

Hopefully.

The door to the hall of bedrooms slid open noiselessly as I reached it and paused.

An image echoed in my mind: it was like seeing a painting on a thin piece of paper.

Like seeing writing on transparent parchment.

And then I remembered: the slip of paper from the memory trap, the one I was staring at right before I...

...Before I fell.

The message on the paper repeated in my head: two lines, both consisting of two words each, written in all capital letters. Four words total, two of which were spelled out numbers, two which were random words, and none of which made any sense to me.

Sighing, I pushed the memories into a corner of my mind and looked forward to my bed.

I needed rest.

—

The twilight was cool but not cold, which made his attempt to seem to inconspicuous by wearing a jacket seem all that more noticeable.

The man exhaled and nervously pulled the jacket closer. He knew he had a very distinctive costume, even if the colors weren't particularly eye-catching. In any case, the police would be looking for him.

And Dr. Light did _not_ want to be found.

Not after the trouble that had gone into liberating him from captivity. He was impressed, really: less than twelve hours in jail. A new record. A personal best. Definitely not something he wanted ruin, especially since he was more terrified of the person of the person that freed him than the cops.

"Everything alright?"

He very nearly jumped over the railing into the ocean. Quickly, he turned to face the source of the slow, cold voice and found the old man standing within arm's reach of him, patiently awaiting his reply.

"I-I-I… uh, yes, yes… I, everything is fine."

"Good."

The old man stepped up next to him and looked out across the water to the distant T-shaped tower in the distance. Dr. Light eyed him apprehensively: he didn't look familiar, being out of that black and orange getup, but then again, no one knew what he looked like exactly. Only that he was not a man to be trifled with.

"You did an adequate job of distracting the Titans earlier tonight."

"Tha-Thank you." He licked his lips and turned his gaze to the nearby street, watching for patrol cars. "But… you know, Mad Mod got caught…"

"Mod is a fool," the old man answered. "He's an idiot but he won't say anything. Besides, he doesn't really know anything."

Dr. Light forced out a laugh. "Yeah… anything."

Silence.

"You can go, now."

He turned and took a step toward the street.

"Out of town," the old man continued. "And out of the state, if you know what's good for you."

A few seconds later, he was able to continue walking away, willing himself to look back at the still figure behind me every couple of steps as a precaution. There was no telling what could happen, what was lurking in the shadows. But regardless of whatever was there, Dr. Light wanted nothing more than to get away, to be as far away as possible when the plan came together.

He was through with Slade.


	19. Repairs

The two escrima sticks were out and readied in an offensive stance even before my eyes were open. I tried not to tense up my entire body, but jolting back up had completely thrown off my inner balance and my muscles seemed to be twitching on their own. It was several seconds before I even realized that I was crouched in an attack position… on top of my bed… in my underwear.

Last night had been confusing.

It took several moments for the picture to become clear. The machine holding the Titans and me captive had twisted my mind, my memories, and my dreams, tossing them like potions into the swirling convoluted mess of an iron cauldron. My brain had apparently taken the opportunity to restructure my thoughts, and my memories must have spent the night scrambling around trying to rearrange themselves after the mental assault.

A sudden weakness spread across my tensed limbs. The sensation made me realize that I couldn't even remember the last time I ate, much less remember the last time I found a healthy energy source to absorb. My muscles must have been practically eating themselves in desperation.

I conceded in trying to hold myself up any longer and let my knees give out as I dropped back into the bed, bouncing to a comfortable standstill on the soft white sheets. The overwhelming sensation of the silky sheets drew me in, even if my mind kept nagging at me; if I wanted to feel any better, I knew I'd have to get off the comfortable bed, out of the clean room, and into the hellish battlegrounds outside.

Sigh.

Repairing a fried brain never gets easier.

—

"It looks like a RadioShack got crazy drunk and threw up in here."

Wires of every possible color littered the floor — and not just the floor, but also every flat surface in the Main Room. Even the kitchen countertops were piled with junk, blocking the pathway to the chairs and the refrigerator door. Scattered among the mess of cables lay circuit boards and metallic interfaces, floating like mines in a rainbow ocean.

"Seriously, it looks like RadioShack held up a liquor store, chugged all their booze, and then just **blew **chunks _all_ over—"

"Beast Boy, you are **_not_** helping," Raven said firmly through clenched teeth. Her index and pointer fingers gingerly rubbed at the chakra stone on her forehead.

The remaining three Titans stood with the previous two, staring at the hulking mess of overturned couches and scattered scrap metal littering the landscape.

"I must agree that Beast Boy's assessment is analogically accurate. The appearance of this room does suggest that it consumed a surfeit of our home furnishings and… regurgitated all around the quarters."

"Thanks, Star. Glad to know I can still count on somebody around here to appreciate the little things."

"How did this happen?"

"Well," Cyborg admitted, "we didn't really do a very good job of minimizing the collateral damage. In fact, I'm pretty sure each one of us used a piece of furniture as a weapon at one point or another last night…"

"No, no. How did they gain entrance into the Tower?" Robin asked.

"I don't know." As Cyborg continued, the remaining Titans moved around the remains of the kitchen island, clearing off whatever working stools they could find and bringing them together: "I left some preliminary tests running last night. Nothing fancy, but enough to start getting a picture of what happened. Basic sensors picked up an irregularity in the air. I'll have to start a more thorough scan to determine the specifics, but I can pretty much tell you what they're going to find."

"Chloroform?" Robin ventured.

"Or something like it. I'm about 90% sure that's how they disabled us long enough to take over Titans' Tower."

A bout of silence hung over the table as they each considered his words. In a few moments, the same question seemed to have formed in everybody's mind.

"Pardon my insistence, friends, but I believe the previous question remains unanswered."

"I feel like we can't take that question without considering another: how did the pyromoth nest get planted on the island around the Tower base?"

"The island security is tight," Cyborg added, "just as tight as the Tower. There are pressure sensors all over the grid, along with constant scans of the temperature gradient, and like seven other layers. Heck, we even have phasing and teleporting intruder countermeasures. The only place tighter is the underground tunnel from the island to the city. And nothing short of Mr. Terrific-level circuitry control could waltz in without…"

The words trailed off but the idea remained.

Raven completed the thought. "…without someone interfering from the inside."

"Interfering?"

"What, like on purpose?" Beast Boy asked. "Is this about who I think it's about?"

"You can't be this clueless," Raven answered.

"Let's try to keep this—"

"I'm not clueless. Maybe I just want to be optimistic! Or maybe I'm being sarcastic—"

"—You can't _do_ sarcasm, and there's nothing to be optimistic about."

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't wanna go around pointing fingers all willy-nilly before we know what's happening."

"Let us attempt to stay civi—"

"What's happening, Beast Boy, is that we all need to be wary of wolves in sheep's clothing."

"Sheep's clothing? Dude, Rae, why are you being all _X-Files_ about this?"

"Because I don't trust her… And if you ever call me 'Rae' again, Azar help me, even your nightmares will cry from their nightmares."

"This isn't about trust," Robin answered, desperately diverting the tension, "we have enough internal monitoring to keep things under control."

"I don't know. It's not like we had things under control yesterday," Cyborg said.

"Then we'll _get_ things under control. It's not going to be easy. But we'll do it."

"You're right, Robin. It's gonna be tough. Most of the systems need to be started over from scratch, especially the ventilation security that let in that gas yesterday."

"What gas?"

Five pairs of eyes shot to me instantly and looked me up and down.

"Good morning, Mika. How was the quality of your slumber?"

I uncrossed my legs and dangled them over the side of the kitchen counter where I sat. "...Pleasant?"

"How long have you been… awake?"

I shrugged. "Not long."

Silence.

"Well, let's get going on this warzone," Robin started. "Cyborg, start on the rewiring, see if you can get everything online and rebooted, and the rest of us will split up and get to cleaning up this unholy mess."

"Cool," Beast Boy replied; he turned toward the corner and motioned toward Raven. "C'mon, Agent Scully. We'll get this corner."

She floated up and after him, mumbling curses through a scowl. When she reached the corner of the room, I could still feel the empathic tendrils probing the corners of my soul for emotions.

Exhaling, I tried not to be obvious about the surveillance discovery and looked for some trash with which to feign preoccupation. The only thing better than spying on people is spying on them spying on you. Now, if I could only figure out how to deal with the cameras in my room…

I found a large pile of robotic parts and got to work.

Thirty minutes later, I was doing an honest day's work... and trying to not to gawk at Starfire.

Her fingers dug into the metal frame, effortlessly lifting the mass to her face. Finding nothing familiar, she reached back and smashed a bright green-glowing hand into the garbage she had lifted, reducing it to a smaller, much more compact mass of smoking metal — a _hotter_, much more _delicious_ mass of smoking metal…

From my place at the edge of the room, I eyed the charged scrap in her hands with a dry itch in my throat. The burning in my leg muscles grew stronger: I was physically aching for the expended energy. I gazed, stupefied by the smoke, fantasizing of the searing sensation I would feel across my veins if… I…could… just…

Starfire tossed the rough sphere toward a decent-sized mound of similarly crushed, now-inert masses. It hit the top and bounced slightly, rolling down a side, and coming to a rocky but quiet stop a meter away from my feet. Without stopping the swing of the push broom in my hands, I glanced over the room from the corner of my eyes to confirm my hopes: everyone occupied, all hands busy.

Gradually, I inched my way to the heated junk with eyes still fixed on the Titans. Starfire continued gathering junk for the next iteration of her trash compacting; Robin, Raven, and Beast Boy were shoveling into more-or-less neat piles, and Cyborg typed intensely at the large Main Room computer terminal, his back turned to me.

Perfect.

I crouched down and extended an eager, lustful hand to my prize already feeling the—

"Mika!"

My hand continued in an arc as I pretended to fiddle with my shoe. So close…

"Mika," Cyborg repeated, "come over here."

Taking a quick look around, I snatched the waning energy source up with both hands and slunk around the piles and pieces of mechanical parts to the computer on the other side of the room.

"Yes?" I asked, trying to sound casual, but nervously starting to draw from the metal mass.

"A lot of security was compromised over the last day, and I have to rewrite and reprogram most of our mechanical and electronic safety protocols—"

I shook my head as I felt the burning sensation begin to creep through my fingers. "I am sorry, but I only know the basics about electronic… eh..."

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry," Cyborg said, picking up my awkward trailing, "I wasn't gonna ask for that. I just thought now would be as good a time as ever to update the personnel registry."

The energy quickly started coursing through my arms… I blinked and it was gone just as fast.

"I'm just gonna ask you a few personal questions to get the basics down on file," he continued, and turned to key in some quick commands into the terminal. "Be as thorough as you possibly can to provide the most useful answers, but don't feel too much pressure, alright? This is just an emergency info sheet."

This was it. I'd been waiting for this moment and wondering when it would come, though not eagerly. But it was here, a serious investigation into my motives and ideals and allegiances and brainwaves and who-knows-what-else. I had been expecting a cascade of vagaries and inquisitive probing from every direction and every Titan all at once, like a serious version of those absurd games they'd been playing with me the last week. Of course, I should have suspected that they were too smart for that; the Titans would never send an army when a single skilled soldier would do.

I tossed the trash behind my back, only incrementally energized and significantly more wary about the situation in which I found myself.

"Birth name?"

Here goes…

"Mika."

"That come with a last name?"

I moved my mouth and stared intently at the back of his bald head, but couldn't bring myself to speak.

"Alright…" he answered, "we can put a temporary 'None' here, if it helps."

My deepest wish at the moment was that my sigh of relief was inaudible enough to have escaped his technologically enhanced hearing. If he heard it, Cyborg didn't give any indication; without further pressing, he moved on to the next question.

"Field alias?"

"Eh… Mika?"

"Alright. Species?"

"What?"

"Species?"

"…Human?"

"Gender?"

"This is serious?" I asked earnestly.

"I know it seems silly," Cyborg answered, bouncing his head a bit with the rhythm of his words, "but you don't know how serious that question can be. We took this format from the official Justice League databases; they use it for every single member. Don't ask me how I got it; it's a long and complex story full of humiliations and decade-long lectures.

"I mean, think about it: it's not like you can always guess the sex of every alien you meet, and even if you could, how would you fit it into neat categories like 'Male' and 'Female?' You can't! Not all of them are as easy to peg as Starfire. Oh, man! Like this one time, there was this alien girl (I say 'girl' because she shared some distinctive traits that Star has) and she/it was trying to… you know what? It's kinda off topic (and gross). Anyway… gender?"

"Female."

"Date of birth?"

"In the spring. Well, springtime in Russia… and… eh…"

Cyborg turned a quick glance over his shoulder before returning to the monitor. "That'll be a 'None,' then…"

It was getting increasingly harder not to feel uncomfortable embarrassment.

"Place of origin?"

"Leningrad."

"Isn't that St. Petersburg? I mean, the modern name and all."

"If you wish."

"Okay. We'll run the standard "blood and body" later to get your DNA and blood type, fingerprints, height and weight… Hmmm, eye color and hair color, 'brown'… alright, previous address?"

"That small bridge after you cross into the city. Beside the road that passes the park—"

"'None' it is!"

He quickly keyed in the response.

"Emergency contact?"

"None," I answered without hesitation.

"Weapon of choice?"

I thought back to the old set of three-piece nunchaka I had brought with me to the Tower and the black, charred corpse I had taken it from years earlier. The weight of the escrima sticks tugged at my side.

"None," I answered.

"Preternatural talents?"

"Pardon me, I don't…"

"Sorry, more JLA Talk. _Powers._ **Abilities.**"

"None."

"Huh?" he said immediately, turning to face me. "What about that glowy-sphere, marble-throwing thing?"

"Oh… yes. That."

Silence.

"Well, what _is_ it?" He asked the last question with a weary smile, as if giving up in a silly game with a child.

"An energy transfer," I answered quickly, having memorized the response for the occasion long ago, "and a conversion. I absorb, convert, and release forms of energy. Like a motor, transformer, or a generator."

"Forms of energy? Like… mechanical energy? Kinetic?"

I nodded.

"Sound? Light? Electromagnetic?"

I nodded again.

"Chemical? Thermal? Nuclear?"

"And elastic and gravitational." Sighing, I nodded a third time. Cyborg was a scientific-minded individual; I really hoped he was not going to become unnerved over the mention of _nuclear energy_ like so many other stupid civilians, as if it was some sort of deranged specter haunting Europe—

Fortunately, he continued with a rational and inquisitive mind. "Wait, potential energy? How does somebody control potential energy? It's not like a concrete energy source; it's just a means of quantifying the possible interaction of the restoring force in a system."

I hoped that my face would be able to explain the situation better than my words could, and – sure enough – Cyborg stopped before he got into rant-mode.

"You don't really understand it either, do you? That's okay. It's probably that whole jumping-off-buildings thing you do; you always seem to end up going faster than you should be in my mental calculations."

Wait. Had Cyborg seen me diving off buildings frequently? I didn't think I'd been too obvious about it or even done it in front of too many people. Had I gotten carried away with myself? Who else noticed? What else had he inferred from my habits?

"Hey, don't worry about it," he said, apparently reading a trace of worry in my face. "I've seen a lot of things in my years that took a piss on the laws of physics. A whole lot of things that were totally freakish, ungodly, and unnatural. But you… you're sort of like this walking Law of Conservation of Energy. There's nothing wrong with that. You're like… the most natural thing in all of nature."

Across me, I felt a slight warmth spreading. It wasn't the burning, searing sensation I'd been scavenging for earlier, but a kind of comfortable heat that seemed to settle into my bones. Wanting to avoid any stupid sappy talk, I looked in a direction away from Cyborg. But I still smiled.

"What happens if you absorb too much?" My hesitation prompted a continuing explanation. "…I'm asking because it's useful to be aware of the limits of our teammate's abilities, you know, to keep an eye out for them in the middle of battle, and maybe form preemptive rescue measures, that kinda thing."

"It is not likely to happen. The excess simply leaks out of my body in harmless forms."

"What if you get too little?"

"It is like… like with… eh, with…" Holding my left arm out toward his face, I jabbed my right index finger into my inside elbow repeatedly and made exaggerated half-closed eyes. Please understand what I'm trying to say here, Cyborg…

"Wha—? Heroin? Getting high? Shooting up?"

I nodded and continued the motion, trying to exaggerate my nervousness. "After."

"Drug addiction? Drug… withdrawal?"

Clapping my hands once, I pointed and nodded at him. It took a few moments of pregnant silence for me to realize just how awkward my explanation had sounded. To my relief, Cyborg started typing a response after only a long, uncomfortable decade of quietness, and finished his entry after another two.

He turned to me with another question: "Any auxiliary talents?"

I tried to guess at his meaning and repeated the words I had practiced from books. "Gymnastics. And infil… infiltration."

"Like… organizations? Groups?" he asked. But we could both feel the question that had come as a natural reaction: _Like the Teen Titans?_

"Compounds, buildings, rooms. In and out."

"Huh," Cyborg said, "don't think we've ever come across that one. We usually use Raven to help us get into places, but we've had some bad accidents in the past. It's surprisingly easy to emerge from a portal into a solid mass that has no emotions to detect so… We'll have to use that in the future…"

"One more thing," I added quickly.

"Damn, girl! What, do you fart lightning, too?"

I swallowed the excess saliva in my mouth and fixed my composure.

"I think… I think I am acceptable at ballet."

Cyborg chuckled.

"I'll bet you are."

He tilted his head and spun back to the computer.

I watched him fill in the relevant pieces of information as I thought over my answers. When you added up the "Nones," very little of what I said was helpful. In fact, the number of outright lies I had given was embarrassing. But I saw my chance to repair history and I jumped on it. It only seemed proper after the conversation I watched unfold earlier in the morning; the Titans seemed to believe, like myself, that paranoia was a virtue. The fact that I noticed each Titan — at least once during the conversation between Cyborg and me — try to eavesdrop on the interview only served to confirm my impressions.

At least lying gets easier with time.

—

If I'd ever been confused about anything I'd encountered in a foreign land, it didn't compare to what I felt now. In the last twenty minutes, I'd witnessed the most intense battle I'd ever seen take place without any weapons.

It was fast.

It was intense.

It was war with palm-sized pictures.

"We'll start with a Storm + Sand environment."

The name of the card game had completely escaped me amid the flurry of taunts, teasing, and insults:

_I'm gonna apologize in advance_, Robin had said, _for the illegal levels of ass-kicking I'm going to be doing today. Dudes, enjoy your last moments of sight cause you're gonna be blinded by my awesome_, Beast Boy had bragged. _I will prepare all of your insides like a lergg'n cthrta and consume them with the greatest pleasure when I am victorious in this battle!_ Starfire had shouted with rage. Confused stares had made her explain that it was a thick, jelly-like food eaten and vomited several times and served by colonial Tamaraneans as a traditional wedding feast.

…Back to the present.

"Well, who didn't see _that_ coming? You always start with that same lame move, Raven. Try something new," Beast Boy said and took a large bite out of his mozzarella, spinach, and tofu sandwich.

The empath gave a glimpse of a smirk and leaned back into the sofa cushions, looking away with satisfaction. "That's because I know you'll always follow up by playing a Brick House."

They locked eyes quite unexpectedly, sharing a private struggle of wills across our circle formation. We were sitting in the Main Room, gathered around a round table, eyeing each other suspiciously. Each person had only two things before them on the table: a sandwich and a small stack of cards. Without bothering to explain the rules or the name of the game, the Titans had sat down, shuffled, dealt the cards, and switched into forty-something-year-old, chain-smoking, life-gambling, high-rolling gangsters… minus the cigars, bodyguards, and funny accents.

Beast Boy grumbled and dropped a card with a picture of a building made of red-brown blocks.

"Yeah, just you wait… stupid punk… with your… stupid magic…"

The last round had gone by in a flash, and the flurry of pictures and spitfire banter of the current round were so intense that before I knew it…

"Mika?"

…it was my turn.

"Yes, I will… I will…"

I will choke.

Somehow, I had imagined that a lunch break would have been relaxing and reinvigorating, that putting something into my stomach would help me get through the day. What I had not expected, was this.

Inhaling deeply, I quickly ran over every play I could remember seeing them do. Staring at my cards desperately, I made arbitrary eliminations and picked the card that made me feel the slightest glimmer of hope at nobody noticing my ineptitude. I slapped down my open hand and pulled it away tentatively to reveal the image of a light brown swirl in the center.

And suddenly, everyone was very quiet. I looked around at stoic faces and tightened every muscle I could voluntarily control in my body. So much for nobody noticing…

The table broke into laughter.

"Oh, man!"

"Can't believe it!"

"Mika," Starfire explained gently between stifled fits of laughter and a mouthful of a mustard-based sandwich, "you cannot engage a Swift Sand in the midst of a Progression of Environmental Catastrophe." She pretended to cough to the side and giggled to herself.

"She's right," Robin added, swallowing a bite of pastrami on rye. "You can't use a Quicksand in the middle of a Natural Disaster Straight. You could try to go for a Tarzan spooner, but good luck on that."

"What is… a Tarzan—?"

"Sorry," Cyborg interrupted, waving one hand and picking up a huge roast beef sandwich with the other. "The first rule of the game is: you can't explain the rules to a n00blet. The second rule of the game is: you can't explain the rul—no actually, it's no smoking."

"But didn't Robin just suggest that I try using a Tarz—?"

"There's no such thing as a Tarzan spooner," Raven answered, and bit into a nondescript piece of toast.

I stared at each of them… then back at the cards in my hand… then back at the Titans.

Why was everything in the Tower so unbelievably complicated?

"Don't get too caught up in it," Cyborg said with a smile. "You shoulda seen the first time we got Robin to play. _Boy wonder_? More like **_boy_**, it's a_ **wonder**_ he ever learned how to play at all."

"Ha ha ha! Oh, man. Remember, he was like '_This isn't following any logical progression_' and '_How can you tell what's happening in this mess!_' and _'I can tell you just made up the rule!'_" Beast Boy laughed even louder and looked at Robin. "Dude, you were sooo stuffy and… Bat-fried then. It took forever for you to even start enjoying it!"

"Oh yeah?" Robin grinned and wiggled around on his stool. "What about you two? It was the first game you and Cyborg ever made up together. And the first time you guys competed in anything. You two were so loud and excited, we couldn't tell whether you guys were going to murder each other in the middle of the night or run off and get married!"

Across the table, Raven attempted to stifle a snort… unsuccessfully; we all looked at her for a second before bursting out laughing.

It looked like the lunch break might have been relaxing after all. I found myself resting well and enjoying the company; it almost was enough to erase the morning conversation. Almost.

"Alright guys, I think I just figured out why the Tower's broken." Beast Boy was suddenly very serious. He narrowed his eyebrows, deliberately paused, and met every eye before cracking a smile. "Because I just smashed it up with a pair of hammers!"

He held up two cards with the image of Mjöllnir printed mightily across them.

"Aw, c'mon!"

"Oh."

"That is very unfortunate."

"Fine," Robin said, throwing up his hands. "You start the Ragnarok scenario, big fight, everybody dies. You win."

Reaching around piles of junk, Beast Boy delicately wrapped his arms around the card pile in the center before a levitating black card blocked his vision.

"Wha?"

"I still get a turn," Raven said with a sliver of her earlier smile.

"Pshh, okay Rae. I should warn you though, nothing in the 'verse can stop me."

The corners of her mouth turned the slightest bit upward and she dropped the floating card onto the stack.

"Meteor? Good card but not even close to good enough to beat me. O-kay! Game over—"

She dropped another.

"Lighting? Nice… Raven, I'll just get my cards now and…"

"I get one more play," she said. "Rules are rules."

"Arggh. Okay."

On top of the enormous pile of cards, the identical pair dropped, spaced evenly over the mess, facing straight toward the green elf.

"**Amoebas!** _That's_ the play what you wanted to do?"

"Beast Boy…" Starfire started.

"GG, everybody. Let's just—"

"Beast Boy…"

"What?"

"I believe she just executed a Primordial Soup."

He stared with a slack jaw. "What?"

Robin continued. "Barren, lifeless planet, lightning catalyst, single-celled organisms start multiplying… Anything ringing a bell?"

The realization seemed to settle on the group as Cyborg vocalized our thoughts:

"Wow, she whipped you like a runaway slave."

The deep pile of cards grew darker and hovered off the table. It floated toward Raven, flipping and shuffling into sizable stacks of neatly organized categories before landing softly and noiselessly to her right.

"Whoa, Cy, can you… can you say that? Is that… like, allowed?"

"I don't know, but hell if it isn't the best description of what happened."

With a glimmer of pride, Raven patted her pile of cards and glanced up at the disbelieving and whimpering Beast Boy.

"I told you not to call me Rae."

—

_DING._

After lunch, I spent three hours helping clear the Main Room from the kitchen outward. The group came to the decision that we would quickly die if we couldn't eat anything but sandwiches; so I collected rubbish by the armful from the eating area and stacked bloated bags near the elevator to get them out of the way and closer to the incinerator downstairs.

I stopped on my way to the elevator and looked across the room: everyone continued about their activities without hesitating. I tossed the bag to the pile and without the slightest outward hint of concern, made my way toward the computer and stood beside Cyborg.

_DING._

Venturing as casually as possible I asked, "Is anyone going to respond to the doorbell?"

"We don't have a doorbell," Raven answered from around a stack of toy soldier chassis.

_DINGDING._

Cyborg nodded while he continued typing at the terminal. "Yeah, never really saw use for one. Only thing we have that makes any noise would be some basic online functions of the new security... sys... tem..."

For a single second, nobody moved.

_DIN—_

The Main Room exploded into life as everyone simultaneously shot from their places.

"There's no sign of any vehicles in the front of the tower," Starfire shouted as she hovered before the large glass panel on the opposite side of the room.

I shot through the door to the stairs and off the ledge before I could catch Cyborg's response; the air rushed up to meet me and I was down two floors before I heard a sound behind me. Three levels of winding staircases and single kick-off later, I hit the floor solidly and rolled ahead. The drop wasn't too painful; I had been practicing the last couple of days on the staircase, dropping from the top to prepare for occasions when I would quickly need to exit the first floor. Occasions like these...

_DING._

The door leading from the stairs burst open and I barreled into the room with my hand gripped around the weapons at my waist. Several meters away, I saw Robin already nearing the front door of Titans' Tower.

_DING._

He reached for the mechanized lock and I reached his side just as Beast Boy dropped behind me. Raven appeared from his shadow on the wall and leaned in curiously just as I felt Starfire and Cyborg arrive behind us. A gentle sigh escaped the door and it pivoted open with a stiff groan. We peered forward through the widening crack.

I heard Raven mutter beside me. "You..."

Behind the door stood a young boy who was about 6 ft 1 in and looked about 16-17ish. He wore a long black trenchcoat that reached his ankles over a faded pair of black jeans and a black T-shirt with a black hoodie. Thick black combat boots hid underneath the frayed cuffs of his jeans and matching black fingerless gloves with spikes on each knuckle adorned each hand. His skin was deathly pale and contrasted greatly with the long, midnight-black hair that went behind his ears, but the most striking thing about him was the color of his eyes: blood red irises in a sea of obsidian. Around his neck hung a necklace with a pendant in the middle in the shape of an eye within a pyramid.

"Hi," the mysterious boy said. "I want to join the Teen Titans."

"Really?" Robin answered stoically, and then looked him up and down after a pause. "What's your name?"

The boy hesitated and held a stern scowl across his face. "You can call me Shadow."

"Alright, Shadow..." Robin continued as he stood beside the threshold and crossed his gloved arms across his chest, "Why do you want to join the Titans?"

"I came home from school one day and found my village was completely destroyed. The only clue at my house was a note from the enemy of my karate master. When I went to go warn my sensei, I found that he had already been murdered by somebody. Now, I'm looking for revenge for my master from his murderer, a man named Slate or Slade."

Robin stood unmoved. "And what powers do you have?"

This time the boy genuinely grinned. "Okay, so I know lots of martial arts and I'm fast and really strong and I kinda have a sixth sense for danger because of my past and I'm a vampire and I carry around these in case I need to fight."

A sudden glint against the evening sun caught my eye as he whipped out two long, thick (but oddly dull) swords and held them up to his chest in a steely "X"... all the while attempting to retain his previous glare.

"But don't worry, the edges are dulled so they're not lethal but if I'm ever in trouble I can just whip them out and just whoop up on any villain's dumbas—"

He stopped mid-sentence and his eyes stayed noticeably locked in place behind me.

I followed his gaze back... to the inside of a dark blue hood.

Raven stood directly in front of the door, the cloak rustling slowly around her as the breeze leaked in through the entrance and sailed into the main foyer. Her eyes held no trace of emotion. Blank and cold, her being was aggrandized as she hovered before the door; she appeared to be more of a presence than an actual person standing beside me. Taking a small step to the side, I came to the sudden realization that no one else remained anywhere around; at some point, they all had disappeared and left me at the door beside Raven.

"Not. Interested."

The steel entrance abruptly slammed shut as an invisible force moved violently against it. The hinges creaked as the steel door of the Titan's Tower slowly groaned and bent back into a straight shape against the doorframe.

She silently swiveled around in place and floated away without a word. I stood by, motionless, still holding up the leg that would have been caught by the slamming door had I not jerked it up moments before.

"What… who…?"

"Uh, yeah." Robin appeared from behind me and scratched the side of his head casually. "Don't worry _too_ much about that... we get them all the time."

I peered into a monitor near the door and watched the black-clad teen slowly walk away from the doorstep with slumped shoulders; I strained to hear his words as he left.

"...and I even bought these red contacts!"

Eventually, he arrived at a motorbike cast on the floor; he reached down and pulled it up, clumsily keeping it upright. Turning to face the tower again, he cupped both hands around his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"But I'm a **_VAMPIRE_**!"

Disappointment weighed his arms down as they dropped to his side. The young boy flung a leg over the saddle of his bike, started the engine with forward jerk, and drove down the road that headed toward the edge of the island. Riding the path down into the underground tunnel, he quickly disappeared behind the shadows of the tunnel walls.

I watched from the threshold of the entrance before turning toward the inside.

"How do you tell the real ones from the want-to-bes?"

"What, vampires?" Robin reached out, checked the door's postion reassuringly, and then keyed in a quick combination into a numerical pad. "Well, they're usually pretty adverse to sunlight and garlic and crosses and stuff like that."

"No," I answered. "How do you tell the potential of real Titans from the fakes?"

"The real ones are never looking for us when we find them."

He turned around and walked up the stairs, leaving me standing at the entrance, alone.

—

The sun had long since set on our hours of tedious repair, figuratively and literally. The time we spent rewiring and cleaning, arranging and rearranging, lifting and pitching had finally paid off and every inch of the top floor was spotless beyond reproach. We sat on the rooftop of Titan's Tower, taking in the nighttime breeze and quietly making conversation.

"Is anybody as drained as I am?" Cyborg asked.

"I believe I am."

"Yup."

"Yes."

"And how."

"Am I ever," Robin answered. From his spot next Starfire, he sighed tiredly and looked up at the sky. "Last night's attack combined with all this cleaning left me with no energy. I don't even know if I can muster enough to walk back down into bed."

Starfire smiled at the rest of the team and loosely hugged her knees in front of her. "I, too, find myself fatigued by our recent activities; although, I must admit I am more concerned with the security of our dwelling than any physical weariness. The Mad Mod's evil deeds and the appearance of our peculiar 'vampiric' visitor have left me feeling…" She squinted lightly. "…rather exposed… in my—in _our_ home."

"I know what you mean," Beast Boy admitted, stretched on the floor. "Sometimes I think of this place as like… a castle. And it's freaky whenever any baddies creep their way inside. It always makes me feel majorly freaked out."

Even if no one answered, the look on their faces said they all agreed and – for one of the first times since I'd joined the Titans – the next few minutes of silence were comfortable. Cyborg sat and looked out over the water and occasionally glanced at the progress of the full system scan on his forearm computer; Beast Boy lay on his back, staring straight up at the stars; and I was situated tranquilly between them. Starfire and Robin rested nearby, completing the circle and alternating hushed words and drowsy giggles. Raven sat cross-legged near the edge of the light cast by our small lantern; she, more than anyone, seemed to enjoy the serenity of the group.

Castle or not, in that instant, the Tower was the safest place I could imagine. Paranoia be damned.

Robin was the first to speak up again. "Well, at least today wasn't a waste. I mean, it's been pretty much the most productive day I've had in years. And I even have some good news."

The Titans looked in his direction as he continued. "There looks like there could be a direct link between the robots we fought last night and the ones that attacked us in the city once upon ago. It's nothing certain, but I'm seeing some definite similarities between the constructions. Enough that I'm going to be paying Mad Mod a visit in his new jail cell tomorrow. I already called and the warden was nice enough to get me some face time – off the record – tomorrow night.

"I'm planning on grilling him on his robotics connections and seeing what develops from there. If all goes well…" He stopped and smiled at Starfire beside him. "…we could finally get some answers to these messes that've been piling up."

"Alright," Cyborg announced, tapping at his arm happily. "Setup's done and all systems are online. It's going to be a while before I can finish implementing security for the database and archives, but every other system — including the tunnel security system that's _supposed_ to keep out unwanted visitors — is online, operational, and responding to our individual signatures and logins. As soon as we get inside, I can activate the rooftop security measures and you can sleep safe and sound knowing that Cyborg the Barbarian has repaired the castle's moat once more."

He took a deep mock bow and held out his hands.

Starfire giggled and clapped excitedly for him.

Sometimes, that alien could be cuter than a cauldron of kittens and puppies.

We all made our way to the roof door leading down into the warmth of the tower's bedrooms, ambling slowly and taking in the last breaths of the night air; it seemed that only our collective craving to lie on mattresses defeated the inertial pull of collapsing again right there on the rooftop.

The six of us passed through the doorway…

"Don't forget that you still have to write the case report, Beast Boy."

"No way! You were _serious _about that!"

…and retreated into our castle.


End file.
